ABOUT THE RESIDENCY

Space for Contemporary Art (SCA) was established by curator Sunjung Kim in 2006 and has grown into a curatorial office dedicated to presenting, producing, promoting, and nurturing innovative exhibitions; public and educational programs – including lectures, symposia and publications; and collaborations that bring contemporary art to broader national and international audiences and contexts.

Sunjung Kim is a prominent Seoul-based curator and the artistic director of the Art Sonje Center, a private museum of contemporary art. She has held significant roles including Commissioner of the Korean Pavilion at the 51^st Venice Biennale and Co-director of the Gwangju Biennale, later serving as its president (2017-2021). Kim been instrumental in major international projects like the Real DMZ Project. Her work often focuses on current social, political, and gender-related themes, such as the environment, migration, and identity. Kim has visited Aotearoa several times, most recently as a guest of Asia New Zealand Foundation.

During their residency, the Aotearoa artist will be offered appropriate support and engagement with the local arts community, a studio apartment in Jongno District (close to Art Sonje Center), a studio assistant, paid a stipend and funds to travel to Seoul. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Louie Zalk-Neale (b. 1996, Ngāi Te Rangi, Pākehā) is a performance artist and weaver whose practice emerges from the tī kōuka, a treasured plant rich in fibre, mātauranga and mauri. Often situated near awa and moana, Zalk-Neale’s distinctive body of work uses textile adornment to catalyse the complex negotiations of performance art. Their tī kōuka ropes bind transgender identity with the transformative powers of tipua, atua and taniwha, reinforcing a vision of queerness as an indicator of healthy natural and cultural systems.

With mentorship from weavers and contemporary artists including Neke Moa and Bridget Reweti, Zalk-Neale is evolving the customary art form of mahi tī kōuka while remaining grounded in tikanga. Previous host organisations include Govett-Brewster, Artspace Aotearoa, Māoriland, Auckland Pride, and Taipei Performing Arts Centre. They received an Arts Foundation Springboard Award in 2024, and their work is held in the permanent collection of Te Puna o Waiwhetū Christchurch Art Gallery.

Syyoung Kim (b. 1958) first encountered Japanese ceramics and black ink through his father, a calligrapher who had worked in Japan. In Yongsan Technical High School, he discovered the wonder of fire transforming materials in the blast furnace. Since then, he has studied fire extensively by majoring in Metallurgical Engineering at Yonsei University and studying a Masters degree in ceramics at the Graduate School of Industry at the same university. As a member of the university mountaineering club, he naturally became familiar with soil and rocks, and in particular was directly inspired by distinct rocks of the Alps that are rich in minerals. He became determined to explore these materials through pottery when he viewed a ceramic from China’s Song Dynasty, a National Treasure of Japan.

Syyoung Kim was the recipient of the 2019 Republic of Korea Order of Cultural Merit, Hwagan Medal. Selected exhibitions include, Abu Dhabi Art, Manarat Al Saadiyat (2024), Frieze Masters London, The Regent’s Park (2024), Microcosm of Syyoung Kim, Space ISU (2024), Contemplation, Shinsegae Gallery (group exhibition with Park Seo-Bo, Yun Hyong-Keun, Lee Bae, Chung Chang-Sup, and Choi Myoung-Young) (2024), Nakseonjae: Wave of Connection, Changdeokgung Palace UNESCO World Heritage Site, Seoul (2023), Axel Vervoordt Gallery (Belgium), Frieze Masters, Seoul (2023), Fuorisalone Milan: Attitudes Towards Objects, Milan, Italy (2021), Craft Beyond Time and Boundaries, Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Korea (2021).