2014 Global Nomadic Art Project 2014-2018

Online Presentation

Global Nomadic Art Project

2014-2018

 

By Project Director Wongil Jeon

 

 

YATOO is planning a travelling project this April in Korea as a pilot program for GNAP2015-2018. The GNAP projects are planned to be held in 2015-Asia, 2016-Africa & Middle East, 2017-Europ, 2018-America. The exact time periods are not clear yet, but it could be April to July every year from 2015 to 2018.

This project consists of three parts: Outdoor Nature Art Workshops, Indoor Nature Art exhibitions with 15-20 artists from around the world participating, and the publishing of documentation books from this project. We expect to have different ideas from nature since every country has different types of natural environments. We will stay 4-7 days in each country and work outside in these different natural environments. For example we will work in the ‘Mountains’, ‘Forest’, the ‘River side’, in a ‘Cave’, etc. During the Nature Art Workshops, each country’s artist will show their individual artistic approach to Nature. Ultimately, we are not interested in trying to make a large artwork for sale or to gain exposure in the art world, but rather we would like to leave traces of dialogue with Nature around the world through the creation of small, ephemeral artworks. The artists will listen and communicate with Nature through their work. All the activities created in Nature will be documented in photos and video and then will be exhibited in a gallery or any possible indoor venue in each country and finally these works will be published as a catalogue and documentary film. In addition, each country’s artist can also organize his or her own special Nature-related programs.

 

 

1.

I, as project director for global nomadic art project, would like to introduce what we are going to do within this project.

Through this presentation I would like to give you some background, why we planned this project, how we going to fulfill the aims and how we are going to drive this event. Also, what is the meaning of this project which will work around the world and what the end product will be.

So, let's see how we planned this project.

 

 

 

2.

 

What you see in the screen, is the cover image of YATOO's catalogue for the founding workshop that took place from 14th to 19th of August, 1981. And, we can see an image at the bottom of this screen taken after workshop in nearby Gong-ju around the early 1980s. The youthful artists who were in their 20’s when this image was taken are now in their late 50’s.

I would like to say that the global nomadic art project is not a spur of moment or simple obsession to establish a huge project, but has come about and been planned by a natural result of the nature art movement, as a small stream matures and reaches to the great oceans through a river.

In the 1980s, YATOO was like people who were abandoned in a uninhabited island seeking a way to survive. Young artists in their 20’s were awaiting natural inspirations which nature gave and we followed that natural advice to create our artworks and developed what we called YATOO-ism.

Those results were introduced by a professor of Hamburg University, and active international interactions began in the 1990’s.

In 1995, we held a large-scale international nature art exhibition at Geumgang riverside involving 128 artists from 28 countries.

In 2004, we launched Geumgang Nature Art Biennale and in 2009, the YATOO international residence program also began. Over 500 artists have visited Gong-ju, a small city in South Korea, to create their artworks via those YATOO exhibitions and residency events.

So as we reflect, YATOO's nature art movement gained momentum after the research stages in 1981 and there have been international interactions since the 1990s. I would like to say that the birth of the global nomadic art project was based on those earlier histories.

 

 

 

3.

 

Now, we will look through how YATOO has prepared for the execution of the global nomadic art project in earnest.

In this first step, let me introduce the YATOO international project that over 130 artists and organizations have participated in and which was established in 2011.

YATOO, which serves as a stronghold for international exchanges of nature art, started preparations to expand and develop these networks more specifically to realize a world-wide project through the internet project.

In this web-site, we are including 103 artists' blogs at present. Also, we recently updated our pages to introduce 34 international nature art organizations.

I think this web-site will be an integral and important basis for the global nomadic art project which we will be conducting in the future.

 

 

4.

Since 2011, we approached various international organizations to exchange opinions how we could figure out more significant and efficient practices for this project.

The image on the left of the screen shows our first pre-meeting for the international curators' conference after the International Nature Art Seminar when the 2011 pre-biennale was held.

The image on the right is when commissioner Ko, Seung-hyun and project director Jeon, Won-gil exchanged opinions for the global nomadic art project during a 3 weeks residence at Darmstadt, Germany in June of 2012.

The lower left image is about our discussion for global nomadic art project with Rumen Dimitrov and Dr. Istvan Eros who both participated in a Sculpture Symposium, South Korea. This became an occasion to participate in this project in 2012. Also Yoon, Jin-sup was involved in this pre-meeting at the same time.

Finally, this year, 2013, I myself participated in the Site-specific Land Art Biennale held in South Africa. The lower right image on the screen shows this time. Director Strjidom Van der Merwe took the opportunity to introduce the Global Nomadic Art Project to other artists who participated in this residency.

 

 

5.

This year, finally, The World Nature Art Catalogue was published.

We came to realize that since 2000, various organizations concerning the natural environment and creating artworks within nature have been established, and also that there has been an expansion in the spontaneous artist-oriented nature art movement.

These organizations' activities started from smaller local towns rather than cities. However, the interactions with each other have similar impetus’ to create artworks. This shows us an aspect of connection amongst artists' networking. Here today, I think, it is an important place to reflect this phenomenon.

At first, we were thinking of making a simple source book about nature art activities. However, when all the precious artwork images sent by artists and organizations were gathered, we realized that it had become a valuable resource as a catalogue which could allow us to understand what is going on within nature art in this era.

In the first instance, I would like to make the point that we did not only show large organizations in this catalogue. We also approached small groups and organizations which also play a serious part in creating their artworks with nature.

 

 

6.

For the fourth step, we organized the international curators' conference. We had applications from 34 international organizations and individuals and due to budget restrictions, invited 19 organizations and curators from 13 countries. Through this conference, we established the global nomadic art project steering group and we are also going to accept further applications from other organizations or individuals who want to join this steering group that did not have the opportunity to sign up then.

This curators' conference happened because of those iterate exchanges and networking we developed, and I would like to say that we have moved beyond simple associations and now are moving onto the further stages of executing this joint project.

So now, we are going to take up the main subject of discussion for the global nomadic art project.

 

 

 

7.

This image refers to the basic spirit of the global nomadic art project.

When I began planning this project, my thought was that nature is connected into "one", so, the artists who create and perform their artwork within nature should be connected into "one" with the emphasis on respecting each other in our cultural backgrounds and traditional ways.

If we say that the YATOO-international project is an internet based project, we could call the global nomadic art project an offline activity which means the project is moving in the real world. In a sense, these two projects are both based on relative concepts of the nature and the civilization. However, on the other hand, they have the similarity of surpassing the Border which are created by the factitious boundaries of nature.

We could say that a substantial content of global nomadic project is already taken literally from the name of GLOBAL NOMADIC PROJECT.

 

 

 

8.

GLOBAL; a word which contains the willing of connecting nature art projects that already being conducting around the world.

Currently, Korea is the only divided country in the world. Because of that, we intend to pass through the DMZ(Demilitarized Zone), China and so on. However, I would like to make sure that our paths will continue in a circular movement in which the beginning and the end do not exist. Essentially, we are focusing on our purpose to become "one".

As we see on the screen, this four year project which will be conducted in four areas of division, will take various means to choose a starting point. For example, if Global Nomad begins in Asia, then, moves onto Europe in the second year. However, if we are conducting this project in Asia, artists from other areas could join the journey of this project and also could move in and out incessantly as per their schedules.

During the period of movement, and when this project has terminated, the results of all these activities and movements will be recorded as one of the largest movements in the world history.

 

 

9.

A nomadic life, moving incessantly, living within nature, and also not leaving any traces of the journey, has similar context with our project.

We are going to move forward with the curiosity of a child who wonders what will be present beyond the mountain. We are going to progress, playing with nature, using our body and also leave our artworks behind while we journey on this project.

We aim to achieve a nomadic attitude and return our artworks into nature, just like a nomad who does not leave any trace in nature when they leave, moving onwards through this project.

Do not leave a trace behind; we are not making art with the intention of buying and selling, we aim for a spirit of pure art within this project.

Finally, I would like to say that we are not only focused on results, but also concerned about the whole process (ie. pre-meetings, publishing of books, and the international nature art curators' conference which we already conducted within this project.) of this project. This is why we are conducting the global nomadic art project using the term "Project".

So, now, let's take a look at the contents which we intend to conduct in this project more specifically.

 

 

10.

The program, which we intend to do within the global nomadic art project, is actually following all the activities which each international organization already conducts; both historically and collecting all those experiences from each international organizations whilst all the while moving this project forward.

The image in the middle of the screen has been taken from a YATOO-i nature art workshop held on the southern coast of South Korea.

I would like to recommend this workshop as a main program of the global nomadic art project. There is no preparation and artists just greet nature with empty hands and minds which can contain any kind of lessons or ideas from the nature as teacher or guide us. We are going to use our own bodies and/or natural materials to create our artworks and there will be a restoration to nature by natural senses.

Move around within the nature with hands and mind as blank canvas, collide with nature unpredictably, experiment with possibilities of new art, nature art through a door of the nature which is invisible but always open.

This project could liberate places where artists may be depressed by the commercialized and market empowered art world.

The upper image on the screen is a group photo from the 2011 Iran nomadic project organized by the Art Council Korea, driven and planned by Yatoo commissioner Ko, Seung-Hyeon and me, Jeon, Won-gil.

As we see it, until now, we are going to meet and associate with artists who work in their own country to drive this project. We want to have a confluence of nature artists nearby to make a working group and then have significant experiences to meet nature in a specific local area such as riversides, mountains, islands, closed core mountains or caves.

Of course, we could also share experiences about music, dances, traditional music, etc and also have seminars or lectures for introductions and discussions about nature art.

 

 

 

11.

All these activities and practices will be presented by means of exhibitions, reports, videos and web-sites to the wider world. The ultimate goal of these works is that we wish every people of the world could have a better understanding about what is nature art and in turn become nature artists themselves to live and commune better with nature.

All those expectations and predictions about this project are extremely superficial. When this project actually begins, the unpredictable impact of this nature art project will be second to a ripple effect on mass exodus of populations.

However, we would like to drive this project as a peacefully harmonious cultural movement of artists who are willing to move forward with nature as a companion and carrying pure art spirits to every place in the world.

 

 

12.

So far, I explained about contents and background of this project which is based on the flow of YATOO's nature art movement. However, success of this project will be dependent on how we encourage the related organizations and the companies to gain funding.

We had no hesitation when we ventured to put the nature art movement into practice with YATOO members because, we could inherently understand that the providence of the Author of all beings has created this harmonious and beautiful world through nature, and also, nature art reveals in creative practices how we can enrich the world.

The Global nomadic art project is a huge project which could never be fulfilled only by the passion of YATOO members. We received a budgetary amount for the preparation of the global nomadic project during 2012 and 2013 from the art council of South Korea, however, it was not enough to conduct this project on the larger scale as we had hoped.

We are going to continue to apply for funding for this project, but we noticed that we could not rely on only these fund. Thus, we are planning to apply and receive fundraising from companies who are interested in this project, and we are also looking for sponsorship from international organizations.

We need support from all the organisations involved to derive sponsorships from international organizations such as UN, EU, and Green Climate Fund(GCF) whose headquarters are in Song-do, South Korea.

We also need ways of eliciting sponsorships from governments, companies and international organizations. This, as well as assistance from volunteers and individual sponsors will be necessary to drive this huge project.

We are already have had expressions of intention of cooperation from many organizations, such as accommodation, transport, planning and progressing programs.

If projects by the various organizations already in progress could be linked to global nomadic project itself, it would be a huge benefit for all.

I have explained about this project, but I think there should be more questions from you. Now, I think I could be answered more clearly about what are the contents of this project and what this project aiming for through your questions;

 

 

 

13.

 

1. If we drive this project with divisions, where should be a starting point?

As a basic plan, It would start from Gong-Ju, South Korea and then move to China via DMZ and North Korea. However, we could decide other starting points of each division through discussion later.

 

2. How we are going to choose artists and make working groups?

For example, even if we are executing the Nomadic Art Project in Asia, we will establish working groups with selected artists and specialists who apply not only from Asia, but also all over the world.

This working group will be formed with 15 members (dependent on our budget constraints) such as commissioner, project director, local curator, artist, writer, recording team, staff and etc.

Any additional artists who would like to participate in this project would need to pay a participation fee to cover transportation and accommodation to join this project, and all the results and activities will be recorded in the source book.

Accordingly, if there are a large number of support personnel, we will adjust the number of applications we could accept according to local conditions.

 

3. Is a participation fee required?

There will be a budget for essential operating members from the project planning team. There will be a certain fee if you participate independently to cover your own expenses.

 

4. Does each organization need to raise finance?

Generally support accommodation and transportation will be needed for planning and running programs, however, this depends on the capacity of each organization, and we also need the co-operation between bodies to apply for funding to the arts councils of countries involved.

 

5. What is the primary role of each organization?

For local and regional events, we need project managers in each organization to reserve accommodation, provide transportation and interpreting, and assist with publicity.

Labour costs for these managing posts will be budgeted for.

Planning and progressing associate between global nomadic project and former projects which driven by each organizations. Not sure what you are trying to say here…this maybe?

Associations built up between the Global Nomadic Project and ongoing organisations will help drive this project forwards.

 

6. How do we move among the regions?

We are currently reviewing the use of shipping. We are also planning to use aircraft and trains for the long distances and vehicle for the short distances. We anticipate sponsorship from transportation companies such as Korean Airline and Hyundai vehicle and if we can access sponsorships in local areas, we will work in an efficient manner.

 

7. Is there any general plan about project procedures of implementation and the route of this project?

Asia-Europe-Africa and Middle East-America

This will be subject to change. Detailed routes of this project will be planned in conjunction with the local project directors.

 

8. Good publicity and advertising will be exceedingly important for this project. How we going to deal with this issue?

For the advertisements, we are considering co-operating with a TV broadcast documentary team at first. If this project is introduced by means of a public TV broadcast, we believe it could derive much empathy from a larger number of people. We would also need co-operations to connect with TV broadcasts, not only South Korea, but also in each of the countries visited.

We will discuss with the Ministry of foreign affairs in South Korea the possibilities of cooperating with the Korean Embassy in the various countries to promote and advertise cultural exchanges.

We intend to use the YATOO-i homepage or a separately designed web-site to up-load the real time results of the Global Nomadic Art Project and we are also considering using an internet broadcast system.

And if all the curators, artists and staff who participate in this project use their social network systems such as facebook and twitter to advertise this project, we think it will be highly efficient.

We will also invite writers & critics from each country via the International Critics Association to join the journeys of the global nomadic project.

The activities of this four year project will be published in four separate books. These books will contain the journeys of this project, episodes, local culture and ecologies, and reviews or criticisms and will be a valuable source book.

 

9. This project should encourage sustainable ecological practices and support the conservation of the environment. Is there any general plan for this?

To encourage sustainable ecological practices and support the conservation of the environment, we will seek advice from environmental specialists or activists, however, we the ethos of this project is not based on environmental behavior or political attitudes for natural conservation.

 

10. How prior preparations will be?

2013

- Establish detailed plan of global nomadic art project.

- Fundraising based on plan.

- Research selected local areas for operating project.

- Establish network of human resources in a selected local area for operating project.

- Planning programs that will be running at a selected local area for operating project.

- Accepting further applications from other organizations.

 

2014

- Establish working groups in selected regions for this project.

- in 2014 execute the Pre-Global Nomadic Art Project.

-Analyze results of 2014 the Pre-Global Nomadic Art Project and make a commentary of this project.

-Establish operation team for the 2015 Global Nomadic Art Project and also launching a workshop.

 

11. Is there any plan to establish steering committee or groups for helping organizations support each other?

We have already established The Global Nomadic Art Project Steering Group via 2013 international nature art curators' conference. We are going to accept further applications from other organizations or individuals that did not sign up then. If they would like to join this steering group then I have attached the manifesto of The Global Nomadic Art Project Steering Group;

 

 

 

 

 

Global Nomadic Art Project Steering Group The curators who participated in the 2013 International Nature Art Curator’s Conference have established The Global Nomadic Art Project Steering Group. This group brings together the resources of group members with the intention of contributing to the success of the 2015-2018 Global Nomadic Art Project, initiated by the YATOO Group. The GNAP develops the profile and presence of artists whose goal is to produce and exhibit work which encourages humanity to have a more harmonious relationship with the rest of nature. GNAPSG members seek to encourage this new relationship at a time when the natural world is becoming increasingly fragile and endangered. This will be achieved with exhibitions, seminars, symposia, workshops and residency programs whose goal is to enter into direct exchanges worldwide so as to present best practice through GNAP’s various programs in order to develop longstanding intercultural bioregional dialogues on art. Operation Policies 1. This Group will be named The Global Nomadic Art Project Steering Group. The GNAPSG makes its headquarters at the Geumgang Nature Art Centre in Gong Ju, South Korea. YATOO’s experience in international symposia and residencies will facilitate the successful progress of the Global Nomadic Art Project. The GNAPSG can drive and promote not only this Global Nomadic Art Project as a joint project but also promote other satellite projects. 2. Ko, Seung-hyun, the commissioner of the 2015-2018 Global Nomadic Art Project has been planning and promoting the event since 2011. He will continue as the Commissioner of the GNAPSG. The Project Director of the 2015-2018 Global Nomadic Project, Jeon, Won-gil, will plan and implement the progress of the project according to plan as the project develops. 3. Consultation and advice, provided by an advisory committee, will facilitate the smooth operation of the GNAPSG. 4. Representatives of the 34 organizations and individuals participating in the GNAPSG Conference will create regional working groups to discuss the planning and running of regional GNAP activities. Notice will be given to all members of the results of these exchanges. The representatives of GNAP will help organize fundraising for this project within their capacities. 5. We will cooperate with each organization if we need assistance and support over applications for funding in their global region for this project. If we receive funds for the project, we can support these projects with seed money within our resources. The members of the GNAPSG will also seek to provide funds, facilities, human resources and technical support within their capacities for this project. 6. When the project begins, if the budget allows, we can support certain curatorial fees for regional organizations and project managers. 7. This project will encourage sustainable ecological practices and support the conservation of the environment. 8. Details about the operation policies of GNAPSG will follow common practices of international organizations based on formal confirmation from each group member of the GNAPSG. 9. The Second General Assembly of GNAPSG will be held upon termination of the Global Nomadic Art Project.