A third-generation member of Japan’s Zainichi Korean community and a recent migrant to Australia, Haji Oh uses the techniques and materials of weaving as a platform to explore experiences of dispossession, dispersion and migration, and the complexities of personal identity that ensue. Through weaving, dyeing, tying and stitching techniques, she draws on personal narratives and photographic archives in evocative installations that incorporate mapping, picturing and patterning.

Her textile installation Seabird habitats 2022 is a single tableau of seven suspended woven panels that map the entanglement of Korean labour in the history of colonialism in the Asia Pacific region. Referencing her personal and family history, Oh proposes weaving as a space where these complexities can be mediated — where past and present can come together and new, less exploitative relationships can be formed.

This project is assisted by the Ishibashi Foundation and the National Center for Art Research, Japan.