Artists Space

Book talk for Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings

Book Launch
October 15, 2026, 7pm

Thursday, October 15
7pm
Free, no RSVP required

Join us for a conversation celebrating the publication Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings, the most comprehensive volume to date on the life and legacy of the Korean American artist and writer best known for her 1982 novel Dictée. Accompanying the exhibition of the same name, currently on view at Artists Space, the catalogue brings together new scholarship and previously unseen documentation of Cha’s work and archives.

A book cover featuring a black-and-white photograph of a woman
Cover of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2026. [A book cover featuring a black-and-white photograph of a woman's face.]

The event begins with a viewing of Permutations (1976), one of Cha’s experimental structuralist films that inspired aspects of the book’s design. Following the film, the publication’s editor, Victoria Sung, will join designer Ben Schwartz in conversation, moderated by Artists Space Curator Danielle A. Jackson. Together, they will explore the conceptual foundations of the book and examine Cha’s distinctive artistic practice.

Published by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the volume investigates and unearths Cha’s multifaceted career across conceptual art, mail art, film, performance, and poetry. Showcasing more than 100 objects and ephemera drawn from BAMPFA’s collection, Multiple Offerings reveals lesser-known aspects of Cha’s practice, including early works in ceramics and fiber, while highlighting her critical explorations of language, memory, and identity.

The publication also situates Cha’s contributions within a constellation of works by her contemporaries and peers, as well as by artists working today who have directly responded to her legacy.

Victoria Sung is the Phyllis C. Wattis Senior Curator at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), where she oversees the museum’s long-standing MATRIX series of contemporary art and works with artists to create exhibitions, publications, and public programs. Recent projects include solo shows with Amol K Patil, Lee ShinJa, Sin Wai Kin, Duane Linklater, Kenneth Tam, and Yee I-Lann. From 2015 to 2023, Sung was a curator at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, where she organized survey exhibitions on Pacita Abad, Siah Armajani, and Theaster Gates, among others. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings, the first retrospective on the artist in 25 years, debuted at BAMPFA in January 2026 and will travel to New York, Chicago, and Seoul.

Ben Schwartz is a graphic designer, researcher, and writer from Ohio. After working in the music industry, Schwartz attended design school at ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles, CA. In 2018 he was awarded the Walker Art Center design fellowship working on various exhibition ephemera, catalogs, and published articles frequently on The Gradient. In 2020 Schwartz participated in the Jan van Eyck Residency where he investigated the act of bootlegging through an interview series and text, to be published forthcoming. He has also worked freelance for various studios including Folder Studio, Studio Lin, ETC., and Benjamin Critton Art Dept. Currently he works as the managing editor for Source Type.

Lead exhibition support at Artists Space is provided by Arison Art Foundation and Teiger Foundation.

The exhibition is made possible through lead support from Teiger Foundation. Major support is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Korea Foundation, the Shah Garg Women Artists Research Fund, and the R.J. Bertero Family Fund. Additional support is provided by E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, The Jay DeFeo Foundation, Alexandra Bowes, Stephen Cheng, Miyoung Lee, and Robin Wright.

Support for Artists Space exhibitions and programs is provided by Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, The Keith Haring Foundation, I.A. O'Shaughnessy Foundation, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, Milton and Sally Avery Foundation, The David Rockefeller Fund, and the Friends of Artists Space.

    A book lays open against a white background. The book pages feature four black-and-white photographs of a female figure dressed in white robes, performing various actions.
    Spread from Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2026. [A book lays open against a white background. The book pages feature four black-and-white photographs of a female figure dressed in white robes, performing various actions.]