The opportunity for my
internship came about as a result of my passion and interest in Korean
contemporary art. My COFA research
project focussed on the story and evolution of Korean art and the opportunity
for greater engagement with Australian audiences. I was fortunate to be introduced to Alexie Glass-Kantor,
Director, Gertrude Contemporary, an amazing and widely respected institution
located in Fitzroy.
Alexie was one of the
first graduates of COFA’s Art Admin program and was awarded a residency to
Korea in the ‘90s. Alexie quickly
developed a love and fascination for Korea, forging strong and lasting
friendships there. At the time Alexie and
I met, Gertrude Contemporary was exploring opportunities to co-host a
collaborative exhibition with a Korean institution. Alexie was incredibly generous and invited be to join the
curatorium and work with the Gertrude team in developing and realising the
exhibition.
Federal funding was
being made available as part of the Australian Korean Year of Friendship,
celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties between our two countries (1961-2011). Several galleries around the country
were able to take advantage of this special opportunity including the MCA,
which hosted the widely reviewed exhibition Tell
Me Tell Me: Australian and Korean Art 1976-2011.
It was Gertrude’s
objective to develop an exhibition in collaboration with a Korean gallery that
would feature both Australian and Korean artists and respond to a shared
curatorial vision – one that was relevant to both Australian and Korean
audiences. The exhibition would be
jointly hosted, first in Korea and then at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne.
The internship exposed
me to many fascinating aspects of developing and curating a cross-cultural
exhibition. I’ll endeavour to
capture some of these experiences in this blog and share with you some of the
things I have learnt as a result of my experience including:
· Building a partnership with between two
galleries
· Developing a shared curatorial vision across
barriers of geography, language and culture
· Establishing and managing the expectations of
curators, artists and funding bodies
· Sourcing funding support and sponsorship
· Logistics and project management
· Managing conflict
Serendipity needs to be one of your dot points too Michael!
ReplyDeleteA fantastic opportunity, look forward to the read.
Sounds an amazing exhibition / huge endeavour.
ReplyDeleteImpressive to make it a real partnership, actually sharing a curatorial vision rather than some exchanges that end up feeling quite one sided.
Looking forward to reading about how you realized such a great project!
WOW!! That was pretty cool. To bridge different cultures between Korea and Austarlai and then broaden a wide audience group might create more possbility rather than one racial group.I am also keen on working on collabrate art within the Asian pacific region. I am interested in heard more story from you.
ReplyDeleteGod luck
Looking forward to reading about this. As was mentioned above, the gap between Korean and Australia is vast, both physically and culturally. Should be interesting to see how this one pans out...
ReplyDeleteI love the cross-cultural approach - are there going to be any collaborations or residencies to bring the artists from both countries together to share their ideas and learn from each other?
ReplyDeleteHi Skye, I am sure that there will be some residencies coming about as a result of the exhibition. Gertrude offer a great residency program for both artists and international visiting curators. The Australian and Korean artists came together for a range of educational programs in Seoul. The exhibition comes to Melbourne later in 2012 and there are likely to be more opportunities for discussion and collaboration too.
DeleteOMG It is a amazing blog. I can not believe now i am here I should have been here early. but I know it is not too late.
ReplyDeleteI really look forward to the read.
Really looking forward to reading this blog! I am in the process of navigating business with China and India so I would love to hear about your experiences.
ReplyDeleteI think you blog will be an amazing one. Looking forward to see it.
ReplyDelete