Playwright and performance poet inspired by Seoul tour
Freshly back from attending the 2024 Performing Arts Market (PAMS) in Seoul, playwright and performance poet Nathan Joe says he feels energised by his time in South Korea and excited about new collaboration opportunities the visit sparked. Nathan was part of a Foundation-led delegation of eight performing arts professionals who attended PAMS, which this year marked its 20th anniversary.
The visit was not only a chance to connect with performing arts practitioners in Asia, but also establish ties with fellow delegates
Over three days in October, the National Theatre of Korea buzzed with energy as artists, presenters, and producers came together to exchange ideas and showcase their projects.
So, how was that experience?
Nathans says, “For someone like myself, a playwright, it could be, ‘Oh, there is a Korean producer who’s interested in finding a translator for one of my plays and staging a Korean production for it'."
While having your work snapped up and delivered to an international audience may appear the dream scenario, collaboration can happen on smaller scales and in more subtle ways too – and that’s what Nathan discovered.
“So much of the engagement was about cultural exchange and having a better understanding of the place and the people," Nathan says.
“Having that understanding affords you the flexibility to engage in collaboration and partnerships in a more holistic way."
The PAMS event attracted industry professional from around the world
Nathan says New Zealanders have traditionally set sights on markets further afield when it comes to cultural collaboration, and that’s a missed opportunity.
“As theatre makers, we often look to other Western contexts, particularly the UK and Europe, when actually there’s a whole network of potential collaborators, producers, buyers so much closer to us in the Asia Pacific region,” he says.
In recent years, there has been a phenomenal rise in South Korea’s cultural output - from music to movies, TV series, online games and cuisine, the world has fallen in love with K-everything.
It was an exciting space for Nathan.
Out exploring Seoul, he says the Kiwi cohort was “always stumbling across” museums, galleries and theatre spaces.
“The scale and amount of infrastructure really dwarfs what we have in Aotearoa.”
Some of the enablers surprised him too – for example the group spotted an LG theatre and a Samsung gallery.
“You can see these brands really buying into cultural capital…and you see the impact that has.
“There was a diversity in age - you see a lot more young people engaging with theatre and the galleries than you would in Aotearoa.”
Nathan: “The scale and amount of infrastructure really dwarfs what we have in Aotearoa.”
You could argue Nathan was destined for the performing arts.
As a child, he loved playing pretend. He would jump up on his grandparents’ couch and transport himself through play to fantasy worlds.
As a teenager, he became an avid movie watcher and says “he felt the pull” towards a future in screenwriting or filmmaking.
However, after graduating from the New Zealand Broadcasting School in his hometown of Ōtautahi/Christchurch, Nathan moved north to Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, where he began making a name for himself in theatre.
The visit gave the performing arts practitioners a chance to explore some of Seoul's leading arts establishments
Nathan is a Chinese New Zealander and many of the works he has brought to the stage in recent years explore racial identity – among them, A Short History of Asian New Zealand Theatre and Scenes from a Yellow Peril.
In a Q&A style piece in Metro magazine ahead of a show, Nathan spoke of the experience of becoming pigeonholed.
Chatting with another Asian New Zealand playwright, who described one of their own pieces as dealing with ‘ambition’ Nathan replies: “I like you describing your work as ambition…makers often have to define their work by its content to Pākehā audiences and funders, and to define its content as being about race. How often do Asian makers get to say, ‘My work is about ambition, it’s not about the immigrant experience’."
Taking his craft to Seoul flipped things – there, being ‘Asian’ was not a unique selling factor.
“A lot of my work centres on what does this idea of being ‘Asian’ mean in Aotearoa? ‘Asian’ becomes this monolithic concept,” Nathan says.
“Being in Korea was really interesting, because in Korea they don’t think about people being ‘Asian’. That’s not really a concept to them. They don’t box ‘Asians’ in with each other.
“Whereas in a Western context, ‘Asians’ are often bunched into a group, and that’s not necessarily always a bad thing, but my work is interested in unpacking that.”
The delegation in front of the iconic Gwanghwamun Gate - Gyeongbok Palace's largest gate
Nathan says travelling with the Asia New Zealand Foundation opened doors in a way that would not be possible travelling as a lone artist.
“You’re being pointed towards people that you may not normally have easy access to.
“There are potential collaborations I would never have even considered – I think that’s quite a big deal. Never would I have thought prior to this that there is any room or pathway for a New Zealand playwright to collaborate with a Seoul organisation or company. Whereas now, I’m like, ‘Oh, no, it is possible’.
“It might not be a given, but there are pathways there, actually. And I think potential and possibility are such beautiful things for an artist, because it opens up a room in your mind dream.”
The Foundation's Arts Programme brings Asia into the mainstream of New Zealand arts by inspiring New Zealand arts professionals to grow their connections and knowledge of Asia. It also supports the presentation of Asian arts in partnership with New Zealand arts organisations and events.
