"From Ghost of Modernity to Spirit of the Ungovernable"
Hyunjin Kim will discuss her curatorial project, Frequencies of Tradition, a series of exhibitions based on long-term research. These works reframe tradition as a contested space, examining its entanglement with modernization and postwar cultural politics in Asia. Reflecting on the ambivalence of tradition as both a living cultural archive connecting generations and a vehicle for patriarchy, authoritarianism, and new forms of orientalism, Kim will talk about how own curatorial narratives engage with collective memory, spirituality, archival imagination, and technological interventions.
Hyunjin Kim is a curator and writer based in Seoul. She was the Artistic Director of the Incheon Art Platform (2021), Lead Curator for Asia at KADIST (2018-2020), and Curator for the Korean Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2019). Kim also served as Director of Arko Art Center, Seoul (2014–15), and co-curator of the 7th Gwangju Biennale (2008). Rethinking the entanglement of regional history, modernization, and tradition through women’s and genderqueer narratives, she curated notable exhibitions such as Frequencies of Tradition (Guangdong Times Museum, 2021; Incheon Art Platform, 2021; KADIST, 2022), History Has Failed Us, but No Matter (Korean Pavilion, Venice Biennale, 2019), and also co-curated 2 or 3 Tigers (HKW, Berlin, 2017) with Anselm Franke. She has showcased numerous artists including Chung Seoyoung, Haegue Yang, Jewyo Rhii, siren eun young jung, Hwayeon Nam, and Nina Canell. She has written about artists including Lotus L. Kang, Gala Porras-Kim, Jane Jin Kaisen, Park Chan-Kyong, and Chung Seoyoung. Kim was an advisory board member for Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2014–16), a jury member for the DAAD Berlin Artists-in-Residence program (2017–18), and currently serves on the committee of LISTE, and as a KADIST acquisition advisor.
Hyunjin Kim will discuss her curatorial project, Frequencies of Tradition, a series of exhibitions based on long-term research. These works reframe tradition as a contested space, examining its entanglement with modernization and postwar cultural politics in Asia. Reflecting on the ambivalence of tradition as both a living cultural archive connecting generations and a vehicle for patriarchy, authoritarianism, and new forms of orientalism, Kim will talk about how own curatorial narratives engage with collective memory, spirituality, archival imagination, and technological interventions.