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.