Communication

A significant time of working at the office is spent on the desk. Most tasks done on the desk is sending emails, talking on the phone or making documents. I think almost half of work is related to communicating with people. I have received lots of emails and calls from those who get involved with our exhibition programs or the Taekwondo demonstration event. Not only that, effective communication with staffs in the office is very important as well. Staffs share ideas, solve urgent issues together and make event schedules to avoid events clash each other. Communication skills are one of the key elements to complete tasks successfully. Sometimes I thank my Organisational Psychology lecturer for letting me know this with theories in the class. The lecturer kept saying that once I would apply the theories into my working environment and then the class is worth it. The theories can be applied very often.

While I am communicating with performers, artists, venue hirers or my boss, it is important to confirm the issues that might cause confusion in the future. For example, when we offer an exhibition with artists, we did not assure the location that their artworks hung. We informed the possible areas that the artworks would be hung and the artists agreed with that space. After we locate all the artworks in very specific positions, the artists came to the venue on the installation day. We decided to put one of the artists work in a certain area, which is within the space where we indicated to the artist before, but the artist was not happy with hanging the works in that certain part of the space. It took some time to negotiate with the artist and we finally ended up with satisfying location for both sides. Then, I realised that we could lessen all this time consuming if we had confirmed the specific location earlier with the artist. I hope this lesson will be helpful when we organise the Taekwondo demonstration event.

Good communication and confirmation is the way to work effectively and successfully.

Planning..Planning.. Planning…

I am getting realised that a planning stage is very important to organise an event or an exhibition. Sometimes it ends up with unexpected results, but mostly it is in the track of the plan. We are planning different things for the Taekwondo Demonstration and the first thing we should figure out is managing the venue facility.

The stage of the Auditorium in the Sydney Exhibition Centre where we will hold the event does not have a backstage area, which is kind of necessary facility for a performance. Therefore, we are looking at other options, such as using the Hall area connected to the sideway of the stage as a backstage for the performers. However, the additional cost of using the space and the availability of that space is holding us to decide whether we chose that option or not.

The second thing we are planning is creating a chance to engage Taekwondo with the locals. We have known that there are many Taekwondo gyms in and around Sydney, and there are a good number of people learning Taekwondo. We are trying to invite them to see the demonstration. In addition, we are also planning to have an Australian kid’s Taekwondo demonstration before the main demonstration by the national team. Researching Taekwondo learners and contacting them to invite and have a short demonstration of kids won’t be a simple task, but it would be the best way to make the event most successful.

On top of that, there are many other things we should take care of such as arranging hotels and transportations for the demonstration team, inviting VIPs for the event, promoting the event for the general audiences, and etc. Even we have this kind of map in our mind, we do not know how the event will look like till we put up the show on the stage. Checking every possibilities and accidental elements and clarifying every single ambiguous points regarding holding the event will minimise the unexpected incidents near the event day. I think this kind of job requires lots of experience to predict every possibility and handle unexpected situations at times. That’s why we are putting lots of efforts in planning NOW!!!

This time.. about exhibition

The recent task for me was to check the collections of traditional crafts donated by Cultural Heritage Administration, Korea. We have got around 40 traditional crafts which are highly valuable. The job I was asked from our headquater in Korea seems to be described as a job of registrar and conservator. I should provide the condition of the crafts by sending the photo of them how they are stored or exhibited. I assume that this kind of regular checking of the crafts condition is very important and necessary to conserve the crafts always in the best way. In addition, it also keep awaking us to seek a way to expose the stored works for the public in somehow in near future. This process also reminds me of the basic functions of a museum. It is not only exhibiting the artworks, but also conserving them.

Working in a small art institution provides us very diverse experiences because a (or two) staffs there should conduct various roles at the same time. The should curate a show, register the artworks, promote an exhibition, take care of the transport and insurance of the artworks, also conserve them, and so on. I think it is a good opportunity to learn the different roles at once, but at the same time I feel it is overwhelming job. To complete a good exhibition, curating a show itself is very big job. The more time and efforts you put in curating, the better show will come out at the end I reckon. I am sure many of you will agree with this. However, it seems small galleries and art organisations are just too busy with keeping up with their exhibition schedule. I know that different organisations have different characters. Some might want to have many shows in a year, but others would like to have good quality shows a few times in a year. I think galleries are able to keep open solely because of the enthusiasm of the gallery owners or staffs in the arts.    

Yes, I mean we are doing very important job!!

Where..Where..Where

The visit of the National Taekwondo Demonstration team was settled early this year. Since then, we have started to research a suitable venue for the event. Starting from the commercial theatres in the CBD area, such as Capitol theatre, as well as Townhall, The Concourse, etc., we were planning to expect more than 1,000 audiences for the event, it was a bit challenge to find a good venue with a limited budget.

The first thing I have found through looking at different venues is that it is way too expensive. I totally understand very high living cost in Australia, but I feel it is unreasonably expensive to hire a decent venue in the CBD area. Most of the venues' hiring fee is over $12,000!, and they will even charge additional fees for hiring and using extra facilities and staffs for a performance. I think I have naively expected a generous mercy for a non-profit from a commercialised world.

The other thing I found out is that there is not many big sporting venues in Sydney. The one in the Olympic Park (State Centre) is the best and affordable one in Sydney. The others, for example, Entertainment Centre or Uni Sports facilities are either expensive or incapable to have more than 800 people.

It has been tough to discover a good venue in Sydney but we ended up with holding the event at the Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour. It was pricey, but as we have concerned the uniqueness and the value of the event, we have concluded that it was worth to put a good financial effort for that.

Next step, Promotion!
We have a venue now, and next thing we should focus on is promoting the event!
I am happy to know about any ideas to attract people to the event.
Please let me know the best way to target Sydneysiders interested in Martial Art!

Commence an adventurous journey to performing arts

I have just finished (last week) an opening of the Korean contemporary art exhibition, Hello, Stranger, which features 7 Korean artists from the National Art Studio, Korea. (If you are interested in, please come to the Korean Cultural Office (KCO). The exhibition is till 16 Nov. Just find me at the reception, and I will give you a quick guide tour!)

Now, it is time to start my internship journey to make a performing art happen in Sydney in late Nov or early Dec. We are planning to bring a Korean martial art national demonstration team here in sydney and have a demonstration for the Australian audiences. There are many tasks I am facing to at the moment such as venue hiring, managing the visit of the demonstration team (about 20 people), marketing and etc. It is my first time to deal with performing arts, but I hope it works as a good opportunity for me to learn some other fields rather than exhibition. I have contacted several venues already and will try to finalise as soon as possible. I will let you know once we have decided.

Please leave me any comments or suggest me any ideas to make the event successful!!