Helen Johnson

Rediscovering the Path UN/LEARNING AUSTRALIA, jointly curated by the Seoul Museum of Art and Art Space, Sydney, is a group exhibition that uses 'learning', the institutional agenda of the Seoul Museum of Art for 2021, as the main attitude and method of planning. 

'Learning', which includes the process of de-learning and re-learning by erasing or re-learning what has been learned, does not stop at acquiring completed or fixed knowledge, but is a continuous process of exploring new paths with an open mind, expanding and awakening our awareness. means. It is also a proposal to listen to diverse voices and explore new ways of thinking that inspire understanding and respect for one another.

 The exhibition invites 35 artists/teams, including Australian artists, collectives and indigenous arts centers, from one of the Asia-Pacific regions to provide a broad perspective on Australian contemporary art practice across generations. By rethinking the images that come to mind when thinking of Australia, and breaking away from fixed perspectives, we propose to think in multiple layers, following the complex cultural, social, and political trends that make up Australian art and society. Their diverse voices provide a language against standardized knowledge systems, forms of self-expression and representation, ultimately providing an opportunity to reexamine the concepts of privilege, power and domination that operate beyond Australia as a nation and region. 

The exhibition title, written in Korean and English, is also the result of translating the process of interdependent learning beyond literal expressions. The phrase 'research the route' is a frequently encountered expression in navigation equipment that uses GPS. This expression, which implies numerous routes to reach the destination, is combined with the English title 'UN/LEARNING AUSTRALIA', meaning that our learning does not require even a destination, and more importantly, the practice itself.