Korean American Deaf artist Christine Sun Kim signs "Have Many Dumb Fights Against Rock," the title of her new exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) in Seoul in American Sign Language during an interview with The Korea Times at the museum, July 31. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Christine Sun Kim, the Berlin-based Korean American Deaf artist now filling Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Seoul’s soaring atrium with sweeping black-and-white lines and a giant curved OLED screen, did not grow up surrounded by museums and galleries.
Her journey to becoming one of the highest-profile Deaf figures in global contemporary art began in a family focused on survival and, crucially, with parents who chose to learn sign language.
“My family didn’t really have any interest in the arts,” Kim signed during an interview with The Korea Times at the MMCA, July 31.
Her parents emigrated from Korea to the United States, where they had to learn English and American Sign Language (ASL) because they had two deaf daughters. “They didn’t have an easy start to their life in the U.S.,” she recalled.
