Artists’ and scholarship holders’ residence becomes creative home for Heekeun Kim.
Mirko Rathke, chairman of the Friends of the Artists’ and Scholarship House Association, accompanied by representatives of the Altmark district of Salzwedel and the Hanseatic city of Salzwedel, welcomed the first scholarship holder of the year: Heekeun Kim.
The South Korean artist moved into the scholarship house just a week ago, but she was already able to gather her first impressions of her new surroundings during a guided tour of the city with Ines Kahrens. ‘I really like the architecture of the city, especially the half-timbered houses with their structure, which provide a wonderful basis for my art,’ says Heekeun Kim. Her artistic practice is deeply rooted in her exploration of architecture and temporary spaces. After her first explorations of the Hanseatic city, the town hall tower and the mayor’s courtyard have remained particularly memorable for her.
As part of her scholarship, she wants to develop spatial interventions that explore the interrelationship between body and architecture. Her focus is on the often overlooked ‘interstitial spaces’ – those subtle places that are usually not the centre of our perception, but which have enormous creative potential. In one of her earlier works, for example, she mirrored a wall on the floor one-to-one, transforming the existing vertical structure into a horizontal one. This change created a new spatial dynamic that redefined the perception of the room and the possibilities for movement.
For the next three months, the artist and scholarship house will be her creative home, where she will seek inspiration and develop ideas for her installations. Heekeun Kim emphasised: ‘I want to specialise in an architectural detail of a space in the city and create new perspectives by making changes to the object.’ In doing so, she wants to create not only art to look at, but three-dimensional works to touch and experience. She plans to redesign interesting interiors through fixtures or reduced models and promote dialogue between art and the public. It remains to be seen which materials she will use for her art.
More about Heekeun Kim
Heekeun Kim was born in Seoul in 1979, where she studied photography at the Seoul Institute of the Arts from 1999 to 2001. In 2012, she began a diploma programme under Prof. Björn Dahlem and Prof. Thomas Virnich at the Braunschweig University of Art, which she completed in 2017. In 2018, she was awarded the title of Meisterschülerin under Prof. Thomas Virnich.
Kim’s work has been supported by various grants and scholarships. In 2024, she received both the working grant from the Künstlerhäuser Worpswede and a one-year scholarship from the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture. These awards followed a notable year in 2023, when she received the NEUSTARTplus grant from the Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn.Her artistic practice is also fostered through international exhibitions. Notable events include her participation in The Wrong Biennale 2023/2024 in Alicante, Spain, as well as several exhibitions in Germany, including Entäusserungen at the Städtische Galerie Braunschweig (2022) and Whence comes this rush of wings? at Künstlerstätte Stuhr Heiligenrode (2019). @_AMK