□ As part of the Traveling Korean Arts initiative devised to help Korean cultural arts programs venture overseas and promote international exchange of cultural arts, the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE, president Kim Yong-rak) and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST, minister Park Yang-woo) present Kim Kim Gallery’s original exhibition Take ( ) at Face Value at the Korean Cultural Center AU (director Park So-jeong) from June 28 through September 27.

□ This exhibition poses paradoxical questions about prejudices, stereotypes, and generalizations prevalent in Korean society today. The genres of the works include videos, photographs, performances, and paintings by established Korean artists such as Kim Beom, Minja Gu, Kwon Byungjun, SaSa[44], and Nayoungim & Gregory Maass are displayed around the hanok inside the cultural center. In correlation, performances by Kwon Byungjun and Minja Gu went on stage on the 26th and the 29th at Sydney’s representative non-profit museum and exhibition partner 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (4A).

□ In his performance This is Me (2019), featured at 4A, Kwon Byungjun appeared with his face painted white, projecting images of different faces onto his as if to put on masks. Combined with the sounds made on scene, the performance invited Sydney audience members into an unfamiliar world.

□ On the 22nd, Minja Gu performed The Authentic Quality: Spicy Seafood Noodle at the West Space in Melbourne as a pre-exhibition program. Premiered in March at Art Central Hong Kong, this performance features the artist making instant noodles so that they look like the images on their packages, sharing the process with the audience in the form of a performance and an installation. Gu also performed a specially adapted version of the performance Pasta Nowadays for the Sydney audience and as well as presenting Tea Inside a Ball.

□ Tea Inside a Ball at the opening of the exhibition at the Korean Cultural Center began with the artist asking the audience to pick out ingredients such as dried tomatoes, quince syrup, jujubes, and grapes to make 55 cups of tea. As the artist mixed the ingredients together to brew tea, the audience stood around a teapot designed by the artist with multiple spouts, not knowing which spout the tea would pour out from. A sense of unpredictability, expectation, and chance were infused into the tea to incite enthusiastic participation and responses from the audience.

□ Curator Anna Davis at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia remarked, “The execution of the exhibition was very impressive and there were many interesting works. I was pleased to see the exhibition of Korean contemporary art at the Korean Cultural Center.” Michael Doe, curator of 4A, one of the Korean Cultural Center’s partner institutions in Australia, also expressed his contentment, saying, “I’m glad that the 4A could host a Korean contemporary performance. I expect 4A to make valuable achievements as it continues to cooperate with the Korean Cultural Center.”

□ Nayoungim & Gregory Maass at Kim Kim Gallery who organized this exhibition noted, “We’re extremely happy to introduce to the Australian public Korean contemporary artworks that deviate from stereotypes. We hope to promote Korean contemporary art more aggressively in Australia.”

□ Sponsored by the Traveling Korean Arts program, this exhibition is planned to present performances and exhibitions in cooperation with overseas Korean Cultural Centers, theaters, museums, and festival organizations, holding exhibitions and performances in a total of 17 countries around the globe, including Australia.