London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Power play – a group exhibition at the KCC and Delfina Foundation

The first major group exhibition, split across two London venues, explores the power dynamics at play in relationships between individuals, institutions and the state. By my reckoning, seven Korean artists have had residencies at Delfina Foundation. Two of them – Young In Hong and Geumhyung Jeong – have already had performances / exhibitions showing their work. This group show covers off the other five, along with work from other past Delfina residents.

Power play

Korean Cultural Centre UK | 1-3 Strand | London WC2N 5BW
Mon – Fri, 10:00 – 18:00. Sat, 11:00 – 17:00 (Main Entrance: Northumberland Ave.)
Delfina Foundation | 29/31 Catherine Place | London SW1E 6DY
Mon – Fri, 11:00 – 18:00. Sat, 12:00 – 18:00

Power Play logo

About the exhibition

Delfina Foundation and the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) are pleased to present Power play, an exhibition featuring solo and newly-commissioned collaborative works which expose, interrogate and challenge power dynamics through a range of strategies including humour, subversion and provocation.

Power play takes its cue from Jacques Derrida’s The Politics of Friendship (1994), in which the philosopher approaches the notion of friendship as a way to rethink the political, drawing connections between friendship, citizenship and democracy. Such ideas are particularly pertinent to the activities of exhibition’s partners: Delfina Foundation, as an international artist residency based in London; KCCUK, which seeks to promote understanding of and relations with Korea in the UK through cultural and educational activities; and SongEun Artspace in Seoul, which staged the first iteration of the exhibition in late 2018.

Spanning a wide variety of media, the artworks – from 10 of Delfina Foundation’s former international artists-in-residence – address relationships between people and the environment, artists and audiences, guests and hosts, individuals and states, and between states themselves.

In addition to solo works by all participants, the exhibition features specially-commissioned collaborative works by artists who first met whilst in residence at Delfina Foundation. The three pairs are Oscar Santillan and Bona Park, Lantian Xie and Jaebum Kim, and Jasmine Visser and Jungki Beak.

Participating Artists

Invited by Delfina Foundation Director Aaron Cezar, curator of the show, the 10 former resident artists of Delfina Foundation included in this major group show are: Jungju An (South Korea), Fayçal Baghriche (Algeria/France), Jungki Beak (South Korea), Soyoung Chung (South Korea), Zuza Golinsksa (Poland), Jaebum Kim (South Korea), Bona Park (South Korea), Oscar Santillan (Ecuador/The Netherlands), Jasmijn Visser (The Netherlands/Germany), and Lantian Xie (UAE).

Credits

Power play is co-presented by Delfina Foundation and the Korean Cultural Centre UK.

The exhibition was developed in partnership with SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation, Korea, who presented Delfina in SongEun: Power play at SongEun ArtSpace in Seoul in late 2018.

With thanks to the Mondriaan Fund and the Netherlands Embassy in Seoul for their support towards Jasmijn Visser and Oscar Santillan.

The exhibition is receiving support to travel to London from the Korea Art Management Service (KAMS) in collaboration with Laurence Geoffrey’s, with additional support from Delfina Foundation’s Network of Asia-Pacific Patrons, and the Goethe Institute, London.

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