Al-Mather Plot 1991

Project created for the solo Exhibition at Atelier Hermes Plot, Blop, Plop, 2025

– Below: Excerpts from the script

“Okay so this is the flat floor plan
And then this is the entrance for the apartment
This is the reception, the majlis room,
and then it opens to the dining room
It has a small storage that most of the flats use it for the servants or maids
They put a small cabinet with a small bed, they live here”

Project Duration: June 24, 1979 – June 23, 1981
Hanyang Construction Co., Ltd.
Al-Mather Housing Complex / Rush Housing Project
Locals called this place the Kuwaiti Compound
Korean residents simply called it Hanyang Apartments

“I remember that upon sonic bombing, everything would shake
It was beyond terrible, back then
And the Kuwaitis felt it more intensely
Because they were living in peace and luxury before
without being aware of how wars usually happen”

October 1979, the second oil shock
South Korean construction companies were sent to the Middle East under government initiatives
My father, an engineer at a construction company,
left for Kuwait when I was just three months old and returned in 1982
In 1984, he left again for Saudi Arabia, returning in 1991–the year the Gulf War broke out

Construction site of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University
Mechanical Manager, Hanyang Construction Company
Twice a year, he came home on leave
We all gathered at Gimpo Airport’s arrival gate,
waiting eagerly for the doors to open

At home, dried dates were always there
With each leave, my father brought home a world unfamiliar to me

In 1979, Hanyang Construction, where my father worked,
secured a major contract from the Saudi Ministry of Housing for the Rush Housing Project
This massive residential complex later became known as the Al-Mather Housing Complex,
one of the first large-scale apartment developments in Saudi Arabia

“And the Kuwaitis are used to luxury
Once the war ended, the Gulf war, all went back to their homes
The Kuwaitis were more comfortable in their homes and spacious villas
Houses here don’t really match their lifestyle and one cannot find any Kuwaiti here”

They were refugees who had fled to Saudi Arabia in 1990,
escaping Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the First Gulf War
For several years, they lived in these apartments
From then on, this place became known as the Kuwaiti Apartments

Contract Amount: $295,274,000 USD
Initially, 5,000 workers were expected for the job, but the number grew to 10,000
Yet, Hanyang Construction still ended the project at a loss
Multiple Hanyang projects faced financial losses
Similarly, Hanyang Construction and many other construction companies began to struggle

After the completion of Al-Mather Housing,
the Saudi government delayed the final handover for nine years
Then, in 1991, with the Gulf War, the final handover finally took place
Only after receiving overdue payments did the remaining workers return to Korea

In 1986, the Saudi government issued an Emergency Budget Announcement
due to excessive construction spending
As South Korean construction firms faced growing difficulties,
the number of construction workers gradually declined
Later, Hanyang Construction encountered difficulties for various reasons
and was eventually sold in the late 1990s

Below: From Atelier Hermès website

Al-Mather Plot 1991 centers around the Al-Mather housing complex in Riyadh to explore modern and contemporary history at the intersection of micro and macro histories. Kim interweaves fragments of historical facts about oil—the formation and movement of oil money, the role of South Korean companies in the Middle East, oil shocks and the Gulf War, and Al-Mather’s transformation from a refugee shelter into a wealthy neighborhood—with her father’s personal experience and memory, and with findings from her long-term research into the region that included fieldworks and interviews, resulting in an incredibly multidimensional narrative about Al-Mather.

Ten years have passed since she started research on the Middle East, and now she can use highly advanced technologies such as generative AI, CGI game engine, and lidar scanning to create a seamless video of a world we’ve never been to. For the audio, she produced a chorus sound by having the “Deus ex Machina” algorithm program to segment a story she wrote on the origin of oil.