ABRAHAM CRUZVILLEGAS (MEXICO), NAYLA DABAJI AND ZIAD BITAR (LEBANON), ALICIA FRANKOVICH (AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND), EMIL GOH (AUSTRALIA / MALAYSIA), JINYEOUL JUNG AND CHANGMO AHN (SOUTH KOREA), YEONDOO JUNG (SOUTH KOREA), ASH KEATING (AUSTRALIA), KIM BEOM (SOUTH KOREA), JOOYOUNG LEE (SOUTH KOREA), MINOUK LIM (SOUTH KOREA), LISTEN TO THE CITY (SOUTH KOREA), ANDREW MCQUALTER (AUSTRALIA), PART-TIME SUITE (SOUTH KOREA), HYUNSUK SEO (SOUTH KOREA), HAEGUE YANG (SOUTH KOREA), JUN YANG (TAIWAN), SUYEON YUN AND JINYOUNG KOH (SOUTH KOREA) CURATORIUM: ALEXIE GLASS-KANTOR, EMILY CORMACK (GERTRUDE CONTEMPORARY) WITH SUNJUNG KIM, CLAUDIA PESTANA, HYEJIN LIM (ART SONJE/SAMUSO) 

CITY WITHIN THE CITY
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Abraham Cruzvillegas (Mexico), Nayla Dabaji And Ziad Bitar (Lebanon), Alicia Frankovich (Australia / New Zealand), Emil Goh (Australia / Malaysia), Jinyeoul Jung And Changmo Ahn (South Korea), Yeondoo Jung (South Korea), Ash Keating (Australia), Kim Beom (South Korea), Jooyoung Lee (South Korea), Minouk Lim (South Korea), Listen To The City (South Korea), Andrew Mcqualter (Australia), Part-Time Suite (South Korea), Hyunsuk Seo (South Korea), Haegue Yang (South Korea), Jun Yang (Taiwan), Suyeon Yun And Jinyoung Koh (South Korea) Curatorium: Alexie Glass-Kantor, Emily Cormack (Gertrude Contemporary) With Sunjung Kim, Claudia Pestana, Hyejin Lim (Art Sonje/Samuso) 

With the majority of the world’s population dwelling in cities, it is not just our bodies that are contained within urban commercial and industrialized zones – but our imaginations as well. City Within the City examined how through activating urban spaces, we might engender them as sites for creative expression, transgression and resistance.

Co-curated by Gertrude Contemporary and Artsonje Center, Seoul, City Within the City, featured seventeen Australian and international artists whose works reveal the personal, fictional, composite and re-purposed narratives that arise when human subjectivity encounters the built environment.

Presented initially at Art Sonje, Seoul, in November 2011, City Within the City at Gertrude Contemporary included major new installation works by Australian artists Ash Keating, Alicia Frankovich and Andrew McQualter, as well as a selection of key works from the estate of Emil Goh. City Within the City also comprised significant works by internationally acclaimed artists Haegue Yang, Kim Beom and Minouk Lim, among many others. The works draw on literature, architecture, landscape urbanism and cinema history in their examination of  political and social theory that underscores the relationship between human subjectivity and the urban environment.

City Within the City was first presented at Artsonje Centre (11 November 2011 –15 January 2012) as a flagship cultural project for the diplomatic Year of Australia – South Korea Friendship. This second iteration of the exhibition was a site-specific reimagining of the City Within the City curated for the Melbourne International Arts Festival 2012. 

We gratefully acknowledge the support of ARKO funding to support collaborative group Part-time Suite's 4 week residency in Australia to make new work for the exhibition.

This exhibition was also made possible with the support of Russell Investments and Cake industries.