Due to unforeseen circumstances Suzanne Bartos, Ji-Eon Lee and Neil Berecry-Brown are unable to travel at that time. However, together with Juliet Fowler Smith and Susan Callanan, work will be produced in Australia for inclusion at the symposium

"Critical Time" is the title of the International Environmental Art Symposium-Nine Dragon Heads' project that responds to the current geopolitical and environmental situation in Korea and beyond. It is rooted in the inherently spontaneous nature of the symposium, which will take place at various venues across the country-including the DMZ, Seoul, Daegu, Busan, and Jeju Island - from November 1st to 11th, 2026.

The Environmental Art Symposium "Nine Dragon Heads" was initiated in South Korea in response to the destruction of an important historical site in 1995. From its original eco-political motivation, it has evolved into an open, interdisciplinary platform where artists from around the world work on individual and collaborative projects related to humanitarian, political, environmental, and cultural issues.

Contemporary art today carries a special responsibility because the world is shaped by war, inequality, the climate crisis, migration, technological control, and emotional fatigue. Rather than providing solutions, art can create spaces where complexity, doubt, and contradiction are allowed to coexist.

Within the concept of "Critical Time," artists can envision alternatives, such as new ways of creative thinking, self-expression, relating, and caring, not as utopias but as tangible possibilities. Rather than escaping reality, the project aims to extend artists' ethical, emotional, and political engagement to the times we live in.

"Critical Time" brings together site-specific work, installation, video, sculpture, photography, and performance. It synthesizes and facilitates both joint and individual works, while threads of overlapping artistic inquiry emerge through a process of evolving collaborative association. Participating artists do not seek to settle topical questions but rather to create a space where experimental open-air and public art practices result in an ethical artistic message.

"Critical Time" is not supported by any formal umbrella institution or major foundation. Most organizational functions are carried out directly by the participating artists of Nine Dragon Heads, with oversight and coordination provided by Park Byoung Uk, the project's artistic director.

[Statement from Nine Dragon Heads organisation]