Hzone | Platform Development, Seminars & Conferences, R&D Workshops, Policy Proposals

From 2018 to 2021, Korea Research Fellow 10X10, as the International Key Figures Coordination Project, supported by the Korea Arts and Culture Promotion Agency, invited major contemporary art figures to promote exchanges with domestic professionals. Each year, 10 international curators were paired with 10 domestic curators to foster discourse and train young Korean curators for international promotion.

The 4th Korea Research Fellow 10X10 focused on the growing need for a new form of global solidarity in the wake of the pandemic, discussing ME Culture / We Society as a framework for moving beyond the boundaries of nation, gender, generation, ideology, and religion. Contrary to the expectation that the 21st century would move beyond the imperialism and ideological conflicts of the 20th century toward an era of coexistence and inclusion, new forms of division and confrontation continue to emerge, including national self-interest, generational and regional conflicts, hatred and discrimination, as well as filter bubbles and exclusionary collectivism within digital environments. In particular, the pandemic reaffirmed that responding to transnational crises such as viruses and environmental issues requires cooperation and solidarity that go beyond the interests of individual nations and individuals.

Against this backdrop, the 4th Korea Research Fellow 10X10 in 2021 brought together curators and artists from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Korea, focusing on how they understand the relationship between the individual and the collective within their respective political, social, and cultural contexts. Rather than integrating different values and identities under a single standard, the forum considered forms of tolerance and inclusive solidarity that can connect differences while respecting them, as well as the role of art in building sustainable communities of knowledge that extend beyond the interests of particular individuals or nations. Through these discussions, the programme sought to explore the possibility of a new “We Society,” in which diversity and global solidarity are not opposing values, but where solidarity is founded upon the coexistence of diverse values.

Interviews with each participating curator are available to watch on the Korea Research Fellow 10X10 website: http://www.krf10x10.com/index.html

Client

Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS)

Curators (KR)

Taehyun Kwon, Jyeong Yeon Kim, Hanal Moon, Heeyoung Moon, Jihyung Park, Seolhui Lee, Seungah Lee, Daniel Schine Lee, Jongeun Lim, Jintaeg Jang

Curators (INT)

Manuporn Luengaram, Phuong Linh Nguyen, Michelle Ho, Farah Wardani, Joselina Cruz

Artists (KR)

Sungsil Ryu, Jihye Yeom, Jeamin Cha

Artists (INT)

Natasha Tontey, Syaura Qotrunadha, Derek Tumala, Kiri Dalena, Kray Chen, Lavender Chang, I-na Phuyuthanon, Prapat Jiwarangsan, Quynh Dong, Do Van Hoang