Liquid Arts Network keeps creative juices flowing in Busan

Kenneth May, director of Liquid Arts Network, gives a poetry reading during an event at Casa Amigo in central Seoul's Itaewon, Jan. 6. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

The most important letter of the alphabet in Korea is K. But it doesn't always stand for Korea, especially if you're in Busan, where it might also be used to refer to Kenneth May, the director of Liquid Arts Network, an arts community that was founded in the southeastern city almost 24 years ago.

"The first accomplishment of any Liquid Arts event is that it’s not a disaster. From there, hopefully we get an equal mix of entertainment and enlightenment," he told The Korea Times. "For some, Liquid Arts can become a kind of sanctuary while they sort out their next move. Consequently, many participants have gone on to earn master's degrees or simply find contentment."

K, as he prefers to be addressed, came to Korea in 1996 to teach English.

"Korea in the mid-90s was something else," he said. "I lived through the IMF period. I remember Korea’s citizenry voluntarily giving up their family gold to bolster the nation’s foreign reserves. In the end, some families made huge sacrifices of their generational wealth. In the wake of that IMF era, the value of Korea’s culture has surged internationally, but that’s partly informed by all the exciting things that are happening locally. It’s been a blessing to witness and participate in this dynamic growth since the 1990s."

After four years of living in Korea, he co-founded Liquid Arts, originally known as Poetry Plus.

"One night, my friend Bruce, who knew about my poetry history in the States, called out, 'Hey K, life is kinda boring. Why don’t you put together a poetry reading for us?' There weren’t enough poets, so we recruited anyone who could do anything like play music, act, juggle, sing, whatever," K said.

K himself has an interesting history with poetry and a solid body of work. His interest in poetry got really going when he was a struggling undergraduate. He participated in The Free People's Poetry Workshop run by Etheridge Knight, a renowned African American poet. He was also influenced by Yusef Komunyakaa and is about to release a memoir as part of an anthology dedicated to the poet, to be published by Wesleyan University.

He also cites the jazz bandleader Duke Ellington as an instructional figure. "He once said that he played piano but that his real instrument was his orchestra," K said. "I make and say poems, but at this point, putting on the event is my primary art form."

But K was wary of taking credit for the creation of Poetry Plus or for keeping it running all these decades.

"There were hundreds of founders, and there have been thousands of contributors," he said. "I’m grateful for all of them."

One of the names he shouted out was Robert Perchan, who had already been widely published in literary journals, won awards and had books published.

By 2019, K felt that the vision had grown past Poetry Plus, so they started offering events that blended specific artistic disciplines together into a single presentation. So Poetry Plus became rebranded as Liquid Arts Network.

"The planet is mostly water, our bodies are mostly water," he explained of the new name. "We all start out as liquid. People are moving across the world like never before and living fluid lives."

In the summer of 2019, they held a spontaneous show in Hanoi, Vietnam. "It was inspiring. We felt like we could start doing events throughout Asia, and rebranding seemed logical," K said. "Then the pandemic hit."

The COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to Liquid Arts' activities, at least in person. On Feb. 29, 2020, they posted a call for remote submissions to gather in an online event, that would be known as Empty Venue. K suspects this may have been the first artistic response of its kind in the world to COVID-19.

"The goal of the Empty Venue events was to create an online video presentation that represented our in-person events," he said. "Therefore, these one-hour Empty Venue videos combine performances of poetry, music, film and visual art accompanied by orchestral arrangements."

The videos can still be seen on Liquid Arts' YouTube channel, @liquidartsnetwork3505.

Now that we've emerged on the other side of the pandemic, Liquid Arts is bouncing back stronger than ever.

"Coming out of the pandemic, Liquid Arts just needs to maintain its mission to present art, support artists and connect communities," K said.

Last year, Liquid Arts hosted a performance as part of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, in which women performers cut off their long hair in a display of defiance and freedom. They also had a book talk with former acting Prime Minister of Mongolia Dendeviin Terbishdagva, and rounded out the year with a festival of books.

Liquid Arts also made an impact in Seoul, participating in last October's Block Party and teaming up with The Soiree last month for a pair of film screenings spotlighting Seoul and Busan.

K said he hopes to provide people with "generative experiences," which he said is a similar concept to Emile Durkheim's collective effervescence.

"Generative experiences are experiences that inspire and propel people to rebirth themselves or some aspect of their lives," he explained. "Perhaps they go on to become leaders in communities and help others springboard up into a new sense of being. Post-COVID seems like a perfect time for people to reinvent themselves with positive traits and characteristics. If we can pass the new and improved versions of ourselves down from generation to generation, maybe centuries later, the world will be filled with more helpers and creators than complainers and destroyers. That’s kind of what a generative experience is — it sets a course."

K continues to organize Liquid Arts' events, even if it sometimes takes a great deal of effort.

"Liquid Arts keeps me alive. That’s why I do it," he said. "It also connects me to the entire world of people, culture, art and everything else. Sometimes, it’s like learning about the future in advance because people are constantly creating and pushing boundaries with new ideas. To be surrounded by ideas is what I love most."

Liquid Arts Network will hold its next event on Feb. 17 at Ovantgarde near Busan's Kyungsung University. This time, they're going back to the more traditional open-stage format featuring a variety of art forms, including poetry, music, film, visual art, comedy and dance.

Visit liquidartsnetwork.com or fb.com/liquidartsnetwork or follow @liquidartsnetwork on Instagram for more information.