UN/LEARNING AUSTRALIA*

*The official title of this exhibition is written in Korean and English as seen on the website.

Biology and economics have made clear our vulnerabilities as humans relegated to isolation by physical distancing and the closure of international borders. Emerging from this context of uncertainty and fragility, this project became a dialogue between peers about learning, unlearning, and relearning—one grounded in values of interdependency as we look to the future. 

UN/LEARNING AUSTRALIA, co-curated by the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA, South Korea) and Artspace (Sydney, Australia), is an invitation to listen, to be open to multiple voices, and to explore new ways of thinking that inspire mutual understanding and respect. At a time of immense change and heightened focus on community and care, this project amplifies artistic practice that represents contemporary issues vital to Australia and the region.

The exhibition presents works by 35 leading Australian artists and collectives, and five Indigenous art centres. Instead of looking through a rigid thematic lens, it invites a dynamic understanding of Australian art and society with complex cultural, social, and political threads. Participating artists share different knowledge systems, self-presentations and forms of resistance that challenge standard representations of the nation and re-examine privilege, power, and dominance.

The dual Korean and English title encapsulates an interdependent process of “un/learning.” The Korean title means to “rediscover the route” and is a phrase often encountered in GPS navigation devices. Together with the English title, it denotes different pathways and often-shifting parameters. Un/learning has no fixed destination—what is more important is the practice itself. 

Diverse ideas and methodologies have been key in shaping the project—sovereignty and self-determination, time and place, knowledge-sharing and listening, multiplicity and contradiction, and humour and subversion. Collectively, they manifest as potential methodologies for connecting with the exhibition. Yet, they remain open-ended rather than definitive; audiences are invited to navigate their own pathways and encounters.

The exhibition is amplified by public programs including Richard Bell’s Embassy programs; Agatha Gothe-Snape’s Lion’s Honey; and interpersonal encounters with Matthew Griffin’s contemporaryary. Each encourages participants to engage in cross-cultural dialogue, revealing parallel trajectories, crossover points and contradictions that resonate in both Australia and South Korea. For the duration of the exhibition, participating artists, collectives and art centres will take over Artspace’s 52 ARTISTS 52 ACTIONS Instagram account with new digital commissions, allowing audiences to connect with the project beyond geographic boundaries.  

UN/LEARNING AUSTRALIA commemorates the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and South Korea. This project reminds us of the importance of mutuality between communities across generations, cultures, races, and genders. Fostering self-reflection and critical thinking, the project welcomes an unfixing of what we had previously considered known, or unknown.

Participating artists
Abdul Abdullah, Brook Garru Andrew, Richard Bell, Daniel Boyd, Johnathon World Peace Bush, Madison Bycroft, Club Ate, Timothy Cook, Megan Cope, Robert Fielding, Zaachariaha Fielding, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Matthew Griffin, Taloi Havini, Timo Hogan, IVI, Iwantja Men’s Collaborative, Iwantja Women’s Collaborative, Soda Jerk, Helen Johnson, Carol McGregor, Archie Moore, Kunmanara (Peter) Mungkuri, Vincent Namatjira, Mrs Norris, Mel O’Callaghan, Lawrence Pennington, Alex Martinis Roe, Yhonnie Scarce, Leyla Stevens, Lennard Walker, Judy Watson, Ms M. Wirrpanda, Pedro Wonaeamirri, Ms N. Yunupiŋu.

Curatorium 
Johanna Bear, Associate Curator, Artspace
Alexie Glass-Kantor, Executive Director, Artspace 
Kani Kim, Exhibition Coordinator, SeMA 
Michelle Newton, Deputy Director, Artspace 
Eugene Hannah Park, Exhibition Coordinator, SeMA 
Gahee Park, Curator, SeMA

Supported by the Australian Embassy in the Republic of Korea, the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Government through the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program, and through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts and funding advisory body. 

Sponsored by Kukje Gallery, and the Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, Perth