RYOU, Yo-E; KU, Jungyeon (ed.)
Why I Swim

After years of living abroad, artist Yo-E Ryou relocated to Jeju in 2021, where she began forging a new relationship with the sea—one stroke at a time. Having never learned to swim before, she immersed herself in the water, guided by the care and support of the Haenyeo diving community and the Haenyeo School. Over time, she not only learned to swim but also to dive, experiencing an entanglement of her own body with the body of water. Moving from land to sea, from vertical descent to the horizontal flow of the tides, she discovered a new way of being.

This book is a record of that journey. It reflects on the embodied time of water and the body, the lives of Jeju’s Haenyeo grandmothers, and the fading reality of their once-thriving community. It also explores the ‘language of water’—a knowledge passed down through breath, gesture, and memory. Alongside the artist’s reflections, invited authors offer their own perspectives on the sea, examining their personal and cultural connections to water in diverse and unexpected ways.

Texts by Astrida Neimanis, Chus Martínez, Hyosil Yang, Jiseung Kim, Ji Yoon Yang, Yo-E Ryou.

[publishers’ note]

Published by Mediabus, 2025
Design by Shin Shin
Artists' Books / Feminism