The contemporary artist Kyungah Ham is participating in a group exhibition titled Border Crossings – North and South Korean Art from the Sigg Collection at the Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland, through September 5, 2021. Featuring works from the collection of the prominent Swiss collector Uli Sigg, who served as the Swiss ambassador to China and North Korea in the 1990s, the exhibition presents 75 works including those by Kyungah Ham, Sea Hyun Lee, Feng Mengbo, and Guang Tingbo. Weaving together works from either sides of the Korean peninsula, the exhibition examines the irreconcilability of the two political systems that have diverged from one another since the division. Among the works presented are Kyungah Ham’s What you see is the unseen / Chandeliers for Five Cities 01 (2012-13) and Sweet-Sweet & Bling-Bling (2009-10)—two embroidery paintings created in collaboration with North Korean hand embroiderers.

Concurrently, Kyungah Ham is also taking part in Active Threads, a group exhibition at KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION, Düsseldorf, Germany, through September 5, 2021. Exploring how textiles still function as effective means of communication even now in our digital era, the exhibition introduces the works of eight artists who examine the social and political relevance of textiles across different cultures. On view at the exhibition are Kyungah Ham’s Big and pretty eye drops vitamin A, detail From SMS Series 04 (2017-2018) from her SMS series, and What you see is the unseen / Chandeliers for Five Cities BK 03-05 (2016-17) from her Chandelier series, both of which showcase the artist’s unique working process; Ham sends images of embroidery designs with hidden messages to artisans in North Korea, who then embroider the piece stitch by stitch in accordance with her instructions. Through these paintings, Ham offers insight into her unique artistic vocabulary which integrates the working process as a part of the finished work.