Set to hit the Adelaide Fringe Festival later this week is foals [art exhibition], which features work exclusively created by kids between the ages of 3 to 16 from around the world. Ahead of the event, we caught up with the exhibition’s curator Sofie Kim to learn more about it.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Sofie Kim. I am an event producer and music programmer. I currently host a radio show called ‘Summerteeth’.
I have presented events at Fringe Festivals before. In 2013 & 2014 at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, I presented indie music films from Korea. In 2014, at the Seoul Fringe Festival, I presented indie music films from Australia with a themed evening of Aussie live music, Aussie films and Aussie beer!
Let’s talk a little bit about how you curated this – How did you find the artists for this exhibition?
The exhibition was to give kids a platform to express themselves creatively.
If we spark curiosity and conversation at an early age (from kids from around the world) we may find ourselves in a celebrated multicultural society full of ingenious creative thinkers.
How did I find the artists?
I just asked. I found the artists through my network of friends. Simple as that.
I had met these friends through my travels and living in different countries and never realised how multicultural or far reaching they were. Some were good friends, other were friendly acquaintances.
So I invited their kids to contribute to the exhibition. There was only 1 rule. Kids only! Okay 2 rules… family friendly e.g. G rated!
And lucky for me, I got a wide range of ages, 3 to 16, from Syria to India, Uk to Greece, Korea to USA and many more. The idea was to just express yourself in any creative medium so it didn’t matter if you were an amazing artist.
What were you looking for in the artworks themselves? Did you commission each young artist to do something specific, or did they come to you with pre-existing works?
I wanted the kids to create whatever kind of artwork they felt inspired to. I didn’t want to restrict their creativity.
What can we expect from the works?
Artworks: you can expect everything from a painting, to photographs, to drawings, and hand painting.
Stories: you can expect everything from a hope, to a dream, ‘a day in a life’, a proverb, a poem, a joke, a song, and everything in between!
What do you think a young artist displays in their work that a more matured artist could not?
Oh that’s hard to say. I felt each artist created some fantastic pieces of artwork.
It is interesting how a 5 old boy from Denmark tells a story compared to a 9 year old girl from India.
I don’t want to give too much away.
How is it “interactive”?
Besides the visual pleasure of great artwork you can also listen to the stories by the kids in their native language. Each artwork will have a QR code which will link to audio of each artist.
The stories are also written in the native language and in English.
What do you hope people take away from the exhibition?
We hope audiences will feel inspired by the next generation.
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foals [art exhibition] runs from March 3rd to the 19th in the Garden of Unearthly Delights at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Entry is free and the event is family friendly. For more details head to their Facebook page!
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