We’re going to South Korea!
An IOTA delegation, if you will, is heading over to Re_Crafting Tomorrow, the Cheongju Craft Biennale, starting on the 3rd of September at the exhibiting artists opening. Our team includes Indian Ocean Craft Triennal alum Susie Vickery, Jacky Cheng and myself as exhibitors and speakers (they’re speaking at the Pecha Kucha) at this year’s opening events. Our collective champion, Jude van der Merwe, co-lead IOTA curator, will deliver the first keynote address at Friday’s Colloquium: Vision and Future of Craft Museums, part of the 2025 Cheongju Craft Biennale International Craft Forum.
The public opening is Thursday the 4th of September, and the Main Exhibition runs until the 2nd of November. It runs alongside the Cheongju Craft Competition Exhibition, also at the Culture Factory (formerly a tobacco factory where I received a gold prize, back in 2011) alongside an exhibition of Thai artists/artisans in the Invited Country exhibition, and a special exhibition presented by Hyundai and the usual fair and festivals. It’s an exhaustive program and I look forward to seeing the full scale of it all, as well as enjoying the Colloquium in Seoul and a few other museums and art fairs happening concurrently in the city.
If you’re heading over we’d love to catch you! We will also be taking in the World Jewellery Museum, KIAF and Frieze Seoul, so we’re going to be getting about the place, filling up on local and international arts and culture. I’m proud to be heading back as an invited exhibiting artist, and so excited to see everything – the competition, the fair, the special exhibitions, the country. It’s going to be amazing!
It’s been a beautiful collaboration thus far. Behind the scenes this past week I’ve been working closely with lead curator Gayoung Oh and her installation team on getting everything just so. There have been photos and CAD drawings crisscrossing between us, to make sure everything looks the best it can. I’m really grateful that they have been so collaborative, the works I’m presenting represent care, and they have received it in ample amounts.
And, for the acknowledgement – this trip has been funded by the State Government of Western Australia. We thank them, and through them the people of WA, for their commitment to the arts. Culture needs culture.
