12. The Final Installment

As I write this final installment I am sitting on a plane bound for Seoul.  This time I am returning with my partner to adopt our third child.  Our son (aged 11) and daughter (aged 8) are travelling with us.  As you can imagine, we are incredibly excited.

This is of course the foundation of my love affair with Korea and my deep appreciation for its people and culture.  It is the reason I chose to focus both my Research Project and Internship on the subject of Korean art and opportunities for collaboration and partnership in Australia.

The process of working with Gertrude Contemporary has been incredibly educative and beneficial and I owe a great debt of gratitude to Gertrude’s Director and curatorial team for their openness and generosity and for allowing me to be a part of their team.

Notwithstanding the challenges and the highs and lows of this exhibition, there has been a deep spirit of reciprocity and collaboration that has imbued this project from the very beginning.  I’ve been inspired by it. 

It seems to me that this has to be the basis of any successful partnership in arts and in business.  It is when two parties enter into a relationship with a genuine desire to realize something that is greater than the sum of the two individual parts that something magical happens. 

Magic aside, the success of these partnerships also relies upon open and effective communication.  Every step of the process and the expectations of all parties needs to be discussed, mapped out clearly and documented.  I appreciate this can be difficult in an industry like ours where the creative landscape is constantly moving and the value is derived as much from the creative journey as it is the creative outcome.

I am continuing to work with Gertrude in the lead up to the exhibition’s opening in Melbourne later this year.  That will mark the end of this process but I hope it will also signal the beginning of an important next stage in my career, establishing a Foundation to support ongoing collaboration between Australian and Korean artists and arts professionals.

11. Negotiating the Australian Exhibition

The successful exhibition opening was followed by a series of public lectures involving specific artists and curators that were well attended, particularly by tertiary students.  There was a smattering of press over the weekend including favourable reviews and positive commentary, particularly around the curatorial objectives of the exhibition which seemed to be broadly recognised and understood.

From a curatorial perspective, thought and attention now began to turn to the exhibition’s Australian iteration.  The exhibition was to have a 3 month run in Seoul before being packed and freighted to Melbourne where the exhibition was scheduled to open at Gertrude Contemporary in late 2012.  It had not been possible to fully consider the shape and form of the Gertrude exhibition until this point.  This was largely because we needed to see the works in situ in Korea to get a sense of the scale and scope and to then consider what could be transposed, reinterpreted or perhaps even omitted altogether.  It was not simply going to be a matter of re-hanging the works as shown in Korea.  For a start the exhibition space at Gertrude is significantly (perhaps 75%) smaller than in Korea.

As we began to explore this issue with our Korean colleagues it became apparent that we each had a very different impression of what the Australian exhibition would look like.  Tensions began to rise.  The senior Korean curator was adamant that all the current artists should be included in the Australia. To take this one step further it was expected that Gertrude would also fund travel for one or two of the international artists to come to Melbourne to install the work.  There were differing opinions on what had been previously discussed and agreed and it became extremely uncomfortable.  We were scheduled to board a flight home in 24 hours and we needed to find some amicable resolution.  In the end, we capitulated and agreed that we would find a way to include all of the artists, even if that meant using off-site exhibition sites to accommodate them all.

10. Exhibition Opening

The exhibition opening was something quite special.  Our partner institution was probably one of the highest profile galleries within a very famous arts district in Seoul. The opening of our exhibition coincided with opening of several other exhibitions at galleries in the local area.  But rather than this bringing a competitive edge to the event where galleries rivaled for attention, one with the other, there was an incredible sense of community within the area.  Invited guests, gallerists and artists in most cases strolled from one exhibition to another enjoying the warm hospitality and engaging art.

At our gallery the opening began with a media launch and public lecture with (almost) all of the artists included in the exhibition (over 15 in total).  At the launch Gertrude’s Director and the Korean senior curator spoke about the process of collaboration and each of the artists have an insight and perspective of their works.

It struck me at that point that there really hadn’t been any opportunity, prior to that occasion, for the Australian and Korean artists to come together to meet and discuss their work.  While the exhibition had resulted through the combined efforts of the curators, the artists operated as entirely independent units.  That was clearly necessary in terms of the creation of their work, yet it seems to me that the exhibition itself could have been all the more collaborative and perhaps a little richer, had we designed opportunities for the Australian and Korean artists to get to know each other better and share insights on their own artistic practice and process.  

9. The Exhibition Install

The week of the exhibition install finally arrived.  I flew to Korea with a great sense of anticipation.  We had scheduled a seven-day trip, of which four were install days and three were dedicated to the exhibition opening events.  The senior curator who had worked with the Gallery Director in developing the exhibition had fallen pregnant throughout the process and gave birth just weeks before the exhibition was scheduled to open.  Consequently she was not able to travel to Seoul.  One of the gallery’s junior curators was assigned to work with the Director and I throughout the installation process.  I can’t begin to imagine the pressure this placed on the Director who now had to work with the less experienced (jnr curator) and completely inexperienced (me) but nonetheless we muddled through and the Director was incredibly gracious in spite of the pressure and occasional tension.

Thankfully we were working with a very professional team at the Korean gallery and many things were already well in hand.  In fact, it became a little difficult at times to find a way to be useful.  The Korean gallery saw themselves as the host institution in this instance, and indeed they were, even though the exhibition had been developed collaboratively with Gertrude.  Consequently, we were treated as guests in many respects rather than co-workers.  While we were incredibly grateful for the courtesy afforded to us, we really wanted to muck-in and be useful.  It was, at times, a difficulty dynamic to manage.

The artists, several of whom were actively involved in installing site specific works, brought their own creative energy and tension and this was fascinating to observe and be a part of.  Some were incredibly relaxed in spite of lost articles and challenges in communicating and locating necessary materials and resources.  Others were tightly strung and increasingly stressed by the looming deadline. 

Having worked on the show for over 12 months at this point, it was such a delight to see works hung and installed, wired for sound, lit and ready for public viewing.

8. Bringing it Together Piece by Piece

The process of piecing the Korean exhibition together happened gradually over a series of several months.  Monthly exhibition programming meetings took place over Skype between the galleries in Melbourne and Seoul.  In addition, I would meet regularly with the Gertrude team to discuss progress on sponsorship approaches, funding applications and approaches and discussions with both Australian and Korean artists we hoped to include in the exhibition.

I was constantly amazed at the Gertrude team’s capacity to manage multiple exhibitions and collaborations simultaneously.  The City Within The City project seemed to occupy so much of my thought and head-space and yet the other curators seemed to flit effortlessly between projects and stretch to meet the demands of all with relative ease.  I guess that sort of mental agility comes with practice and experience.  I am sure it is also typical of many small yet highly driven and ambitious art spaces.  In spite of inadequate funding, regardless of how under resourced these organisations are, institutions like Gertrude Contemporary punch well above their weight and launch and support the careers of artists around Australia and the world.

7. Sponsorship Outcomes

To assist in my effort to garner the support of Korea / Australian corporates I had developed a detailed prospectus outlining the sponsorship opportunity, the benefits of engagement and the opportunities for co-branding and cross promotion.  I provided a demographic segmentation of likely visitors to the gallery to assist the sponsor in identifying reach and possible market exposure.

I’d gone to lengths to position the content with the reader in mind so that a non-arts professional could easily interpret and get a sense of the exhibition content, understand our cross-cultural objectives and how the project might appeal to their Australian and Korean market base.  I had tied myself in knots putting this document together and in the end I was feeling quite proud of myself!

Having made initial contact by phone and email with several CEOs, General Managers and Marketing Executives I was excited one day when I received a return phone call from the Managing Director of one large Korean based, multi-national mining company.   “Mr Woo”, I said, “Thank you so much for returning my call.” I then immediately launched into my spiel about how great the exhibition was going to be, and how we’d like to work in partnership with his company and promote continued successful dialogue between Australia and Korea etc etc.  After minutes of listening patiently to my banter Mr Woo gently broke into my conversation.  “Michael, I don’t want to sponsor your exhibition.  But I would like to make a donation.” 

In the end, Mr Woo generously contributed thousands of dollars to the exhibition.  Of course I was thrilled, but also somehow disappointed that I couldn’t help him to leverage some benefit from sponsoring the project.

I was also fortunate to secure the sponsorship of a financial services organisation.  The opportunity appealed to them, not because of the lofty ideals of our Australian / Korean content, but because of the unique corporate hosting opportunity presented by a partnership with Gertrude Contemporary.  Accustomed to sponsoring blockbuster exhibitions in guilt edged, flagship institutions, this organisation was keen to be associated with an exhibition that was a little ‘edgy’.

The exercise taught me that despite best intentions, you’re not always able to perceive the needs of sponsors or benefactors.  Sure you need to do your homework, make a considered and well articulated pitch and press the pavement.   But you also need to remain open to new ideas and possibilities – and never give-up hope of eventually making a break-through.

6. Searching for Support

As an intern I was always conscious of trying to find a useful way to contribute to the project, rather than simply being an observer and ‘shadowing’ the work of the gallery director and senior curator.  Much of my professional work to date has centred on building effective business partnerships and managing corporate sponsorship portfolios for business and arts events.  I was determined to bring some of this skill and experience to the table in support of the exhibition.

While we had been successful in securing financial contributions from Arts Victoria, the Australia Korea Foundation and other agencies, the exhibition was still considerably underfunded.  If I was able to raise additional revenue through sponsorship we would be able to cover costs associated with artist travel, making site specific works a possibility.  We also needed funding to cover freight and travel and accommodation for the curators.

I decided to turn my attention to Korean companies with offices in Australia: motor vehicle and appliance manufacturers, technology companies, mining companies and airlines.  Perhaps not surprisingly, it was a challenge.  I began the campaign in early 2011.  Global financial markets were continually uncertain and jittery as a result of the global financial crisis.  As a result, corporate marketing budgets had been slashed and few new projects were being considered by the major organisations.  Despite this there was universal awareness of the Australian  / Korean Year of Friendship among the Korean companies I approached and there was a genuine sense of good will toward our initiative.  If only I could convince someone to untie the purse strings. 

5. Virtual Collaboration

Following our trip to Korea, planning for the exhibition began in earnest.  One of the first steps was articulating the curatorial focus for the exhibition.  Gertrude Contemporary was keen to frame the exhibition around the theoretical concept of landscape urbanism. Landscape Urbanism is a theory of planning and design for urbanism arguing that landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience.  The concept is highly relevant in light of the rapid rate of urban development in both Australia and Korea.  In both countries, the increasing pressures and demands placed on us as consumers often drives us to seek tranquility and respite in the natural environment.  Yet it is the natural environment that suffers as a result of our consumerism. The nexus and paradox between these two realities was to be the anchor for the exhibition City Within the City.

The tight focus of this curatorial frame relaxed over time, largely as a result of the curators layered interpretations of landscape urbanism.  Both the Australian and Korean curators brought their own perspectives to the table and the works of artists who were considered for the exhibition informed these ideas and notions even further.

Because of the geographical divide, the exhibition planning and curatorial meetings took place over Skype with images of artists’ work being forwarded back and forth via email and web link. Both the Korean and Australian curatorium had a strong desire to build a genuinely collaborative and reciprocal project.  Despite the frequent breaks in transmission over Skype, despite the language barrier and despite heavily accented English spoken on both sides of the Skype connection, these meetings were surprisingly constructive. 

4. Opportunity strikes

It is amazing, sometimes, the way the right opportunity just presents itself at the right point in time.  When it does happen, I don’t think it is necessarily just the result of good luck – the opportunities arise as a result of lots of groundwork and effort to cultivate and build relationships and networks.  Whatever the reason, the following day the Gertrude team and I had the opportunity to meet with one of Korea’s most renowned and respected gallerists, Ms S.J.K.  We met early on a Sunday morning at a café near S.J.K’s home.  S.J.K’s assistant also attended the meeting and took notes throughout.  They both then headed back to the Gallery to work.  Life moves at a relentless pace in Seoul.

As we outlined our hopes and objectives with regard to the collaborative project we had in mind there was an immediate synergy with S.J.K. and she invited us to co-host the exhibition at her gallery.  We determined at that point to abandon plans for the exhibition in the satellite city, and instead develop the exhibition in partnership with S.J.K. and her team.

Private benefaction in Korea operates at an entirely different level compared to Australia and may other Western countries. Korean industry is dominated by a handful of chaebol (think Samsung, Hyundai, Daewoo); large, conglomerate family-controlled firms that are characterized by strong ties with government agencies.   These family-run empires hold phenomenal art collections, many housed within vast private galleries that are open to the public year-round.

S.J.K. is a member of one such family.  Her gallery in Seoul is renowned for the quality and breadth of its temporary exhibition programming and accompanying education and residency programs.

With S.J.K. we had found an ideal exhibition partner and collaborator.  The foundation for the exhibition City Within The City was established.

3. Building a collaborative partnership

Our first meeting with the Korean curatorial team was challenging.  Language created a barrier in some ways.  Our collaborators had much better command of English than we had of Korean, and could make themselves clearly understood from our perspective.  Nevertheless there was a degree of reticence and lack of confidence that that hindered verbal communication to some degree.

Another challenge came in the form of business customs.  The Australian curatorial team weren’t entirely naïve to this.  We had all conducted business in Asia before and were familiar with the importance of demonstrating a heightened level of courtesy and a respect for seniority and organisational hierarchy.    

In the end it was probably a combination of factors that stifled the free flow of thought and communication among the curators on both sides of the table.  It was difficult to build genuine rapport, trust and understanding and we were very conscious that we didn’t have the luxury of slowly building that relationship of trust over time. 

Gertrude has a long history of building successful, highly collaborative exhibitions with Australian and international curators where both the curatorial vision and selection of exhibiting artists was realised as a result of shared insights, perspectives and discussion.  Our partner institution on the other hand, was accustomed to collaborating in a different way.  For them, the collaborative process involved honouring their partner institution by offering the most renowned Korean artists they could secure for the exhibition with the expectation that the international partner would reciprocate in a similar way.  It was a partnership but perhaps one that was realised as a result of the individual and independent efforts of both parties rather than a shared and integrated approach to building an exhibition.

We left that first meeting with serious doubts about our ability to successfully deliver an exhibition together.

For me, this experience illustrated some useful points:

• Successful artistic collaborations can’t be engineered.  They take time to evolve and need to be nurtured.  If you are trying to achieve this across geography you need to build sufficient time into your exhibition schedule to foster the relationship.
• Language can present a barrier to successful international partnerships and you need to invest time in finding ways to build mutual understanding using a variety of means.
• You need to be aware of differing business styles and customs and be willing to make adjustments in your own style accordingly
• Funding constraints can limit the capacity for arts practitioners to travel to meet together on a regular basis to build understanding and rapport.  Technology (eg skype) can help to bridge the distance but I don’t think it can replace the value of personal, face-to-face communication.  

2. Were we in the right place?

One of the first internship experiences involved the opportunity to travel to Seoul in November 2010 with the Gallery’s director and senior curator.  The purpose of the trip was to meet with representatives of the Australian Embassy in Seoul and Australia Korea Foundation (AKF) who had contributed to funding the exhibition.  In addition, we were to meet with the curators of the Korean partner institution. We hoped the visit would help us to further develop the exhibition thematic, provide an opportunity to meet Korean artists and generally assist in building a closer relationship with the curatorial team at the partner institution.

The partner institution was to be a large multi-venue public arts facility located in a province to the northwest of Seoul, approx 90 min bus ride from the capital.  Like so many highly populated countries in Asia, Korea sought to establish numerous regional satellite cities as a means of spreading opportunities for economic growth and development and alleviating pressure on the Capital’s strained infrastructure. Selected rural towns quickly became the focus of rapid development and urbanisation.  As a part of this process, these cities were bestowed with large, glittering cultural centres.  The Australia Korea Foundation was keen to facilitate unique collaborations in Korea’s satellite cities and so an exhibition with Gertrude seemed like an appropriate fit.

While on paper the arrangement seemed to be in order, there were a few factors that were concerning the Australian curators: 

• The partner institution was located further outside the Seoul art scene than we ideally would have liked.  While the gallery’s facilities were first rate, the regional location potentially limited the exposure the exhibition would receive. 
• The AKF were a funding partner of the exhibition and they had also been intimately involved in brokering the arrangement with the Korean institution.  While we weren’t entirely satisfied, we didn’t want to jeopardise our relationship with the AKF by expressing a concern so early in the relationship.  Nor did we want to negatively impact the AKF’s relationship with the Korean institution. 
• The other concern was that the Korean curatorial team was somewhat unknown and untested. Our travel schedule was tight, and limited funding precluded the possibility regular face-to-face curatorial visits. We would need to build the relationship from the ground up and we weren’t entirely sure we were building in the right place!