Tell Me Tell Me: Australian and Korean Art 1976-2011

Overview

If you are like me, you totally did not know that 2011 is the Korea-Australia Year of Friendship. Or that it's the International Year of Chemistry and the International Year of Forests, but those things aren't holding an exhibition at the National Art School, so think about those on your own time, 'kay? Anyway, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australian and Korea, and there are "social, cultural and academic events" happening in major cities in both countries. Of course, that's diplomacy-talk for "sweet embassy parties" aka "what makes Canberra tolerable" but the society, culture and thinking is happening too, with all three coming together in this exhibition at which you can hang out with people, look at significant art and, hey, it's at a tertiary institution!

The 2011 part of the title is pretty self-explanatory, but why 1976? Because the second ever Biennale of Sydney happened that year, silly, and it had lots of cool international stuff in it, and also artist Nam June Paik (who you may remember as the one with all the TVs, or otherwise know about because of the topless violin scandal) visited Australia. There will be work by Paik in Tell Me Tell Me, and another double up for the 1976-2011 collection is Ken Unsworth, who is in this show and was in that Biennale. There are a bunch more people than that showing, too, and you can see who they are courtesy of the MCA, who put the whole thing together with their friend the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea. Those guys are great together. Soooo much in common.