A Radical Place

2011 Berlin Explore invites Donghwan Jo and Haejun Jo, artists collaborating as father and son, for its Residency Program. The new production illuminated the radical changes in political and social atmosphere after Germany¡¯s unification. Haejun Jo wrote a dictation-style letter based on the statements of a German interpreter whose name remains anonymous and Helga Picht (Professor in Korea Studies, emeritus, Humboldt Universitaet) who is from East Germany, passed the letter on to his father (Donghwan Jo) for him to produce a drawing. Donghwan Jo shows what he thinks about the two Germans from the perspective of the generation that experienced the Korean War, focusing on the conflicting ideologies of North and South. Haejun Jo, who has been working in Germany since 2008, highlights the process of how the interview is transposed onto his father¡¯s memories while he stays in Berlin. Also, the works produced during the International Residency Program were introduced at Berlin DNA Gallery¡¯s special exhibition ¡°Drawing in Relation¡± from August 26 to October 16, 2011. This exhibition introduces the collaborative work of the two Jos as a group production based on the traditional Asian family relations. DNA Gallery, where Japanese artist Tatsumi Orimoto - who works with his mother - held a solo exhibition earlier, introduces the Jo families¡¯ works within the context of Asian Familial culture in Drawing in Relation.

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Interview with Helga Picht
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Transcription
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Drawing Relation at DNA Berlin