The Korean Cultural Centre Canada hosts <Home and other places, Ottawa> at the KCC Gallery from November 5 to November 15. 

Produced by the Lee KangHa Art Museum, <Home and other places, Ottawa> is an exhibition to showcase the works created over the past two years by Lee Sun, curator of the Lee KangHa Art Museum, and three Korean artists, Kim Seol-a, Lee Jo-Heum and Ju Sae-woong, through exchanges with artists from Kinngait (Cape Dorset) in Nunavut, Canada.

Under the theme of “home,” this exhibition presents the Korean artists’ reflections on “home” felt in the Canadian Arctic, a place so distant that it requires five flights to reach from Korea. It demonstrates how through art, artists from Korea and Canada, living far apart, can learn about and understand each other, making unfamiliar places another “home.”

The Lee KangHa Art Museum, established in 2018 to study and commemorate the art world of the late Lee KangHa, began exchanges with the West Baffin Eskimo Co-op in Kinngait, Nunavut, in 2022. In 2023, the curator Lee Sun and the three Korean artists visited Iqaluit and Kinngait as part of the Korea-Canada Arctic Research Project, conducting artist residencies. In June 2024, they revisited Kinngait to collaborate with local artists and presented the <The Myth of the Arctic Becomes Image> exhibition at the Kenojuak Cultural Centre in Kinngait. 

In response, artists from Kinngait also participated in the 14th Gwangju Biennale Canadian Pavilion in April 2023, showcasing around 90 works by 32 Inuit artists under the theme of <Myth Becomes Reality>. From September 2024, six Inuit and those three Korean artists have co-created the exhibition <Home and other places>, which is on display at the 15th Gwangju Biennale Canadian Pavilion until December 1.  The West Baffin Eskimo Co-operation was established in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut, in 1959. Since its inception, the Co-op has supported and promoted local artists’ art making in the areas of printmaking, drawing, and sculpture. 

About the Artists

Seol-a Kim (b.1983), a painter and installation artist, has been featured in solo exhibitions like <When Numerous Mountains Scatter> (2021) and the Gwangju Museum of Art’s Young Artists Invitation Exhibition (2022). She was selected for the Korean National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Artists Matching Program (2021). 

Joheum Lee (b.1984) works with media, photography, and painting to explore contemporary life. Lee participated in the Gwangju Museum of Art’s International Residency program (2021) and exhibited at the Regional Exchange Exhibition at the Seongnam Arts Center and the National Asian Cultural Complex’s Media Wall (2022). 

Saewoong Ju (Boogtom) (b.1982), a street dancer with twenty-six years of experience, practices art by means of performance, videography, and photography. Ju participated in “Boogie Woogie” exhibitions at the Ulsan Art Museum and the Toronto Nuit Blanche (2024). 

Sun Lee (b. 1982), Chief Curator of the Lee KangHa Art Museum in Gwangju, is an expert in planning creative projects that connect the past and present while breaking down the boundaries of cities and countries. Lee co-curated the Canadian Pavilion at the 14th (2023) and 15th (2024) Gwangju Biennale and the 40th anniversary special exhibition to commemorate the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, <Maytoday>. She led the Arts Council Korea’s public art projects and the Korean National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's network projects and spearheaded many exhibitions and international exchange projects while initiating artist workshops like <2019 Out of Museum>.

Sungyeol Kim of the Korean Cultural Centre noted, “Held in celebration of the 2024-2025 Year of Korea-Canada Mutual Cultural Exchange, this exhibition portrays the works created by Korean artists based on their experiences of meeting and co-creating with artists living in the distant and different social, historical, and natural environment of Kinngait, Canada. It is specifically meaningful that the KCC shares the outcome of this unique collaboration between Korea and Canada with our fellow Canadians." 

At the vernissage, Mathew Nuqingaq, CM, an Iqaluit-based master jeweler, silversmith, metal artist, sculptor, drum dancer, photographer, actor, and educator, will perform a duo with Saewoong Ju. Nuqingaq performed a drum dance for Ju’s collaborative movement video work <The Land> (2024), which will be presented during the exhibition.

In addition to the duo performers, the other two Korean artists and the curator will all be present at the vernissage and participate in the following artist talk. This talk will be moderated by William Huffman, General Manager of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-op, who first initiated the Gwangju-Kinngait exchange in 2022 and has continued facilitating this meaningful international collaboration between Korea and Canada until now. 

<Home and other places, Ottawa>

▶ Dates: November 5 – 15, 2024 

▶ Venue: The KCC Gallery (101-150 Elgin St., Ottawa) 

▶ Vernissage & Artist talk

- Tuesday, November 5, 2024, 6 – 9 pm / The KCC Gallery

- Artist Talk Moderator: William Huffman (General Manager, West Baffin Eskimo Co-op.) 

- Registration: https://forms.gle/ECneLGNYZBfeiRfF8

▶ Inquiry: The Korean Cultural Centre Canada (613-233-8008/ canada@korea.kr)

Seol-a Kim, <The Shape of the Soul Like wind/ A beluga with a white heat>, 2024,  Pencil on paper, 55cm x 60cm 

Joheum Lee, <Reflection>, 2024, Mirror acrylic & stainless steel ring, Variable size

Saewoong Ju(Boogtom), <Aurora Harmonies>, 2023, Movement Video