On Nov. 10, the exhibition “Art + Language: Korean Contemporary Graphic Design” opened in the Korean Cultural Center in Ottawa, Canada. Together with co-curators Robert Tombs and Wonjoon Chung, Henk invited 5 Korean graphic designers to showcase recent work: Kyungsun Kymn, Kyung Park, YuJune Park, Sulki + Min, and Lee Yongje. At the event, all designers, minus YuJune Park, were present and briefly spoke about their work. Expecting her baby at any moment, YuJune was unable to travel to Ottawa but Henk introduced her work and studio practice with “Synoptic Office." Additionally, Henk also had the honor of re-installing her student project “Swell” she created many years ago for a class he teaches at Yale. The exhibition will be on view until Jan. 10, 2023.
On Nov. 14, 2020, Henk gave a talk to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts / L'Académie royale des arts du Canada (RCA /ARC) in Ottawa. The presentation gave an overview of the role graphic design played in supporting resistance efforts during the occupation of the Netherlands in WWII, and how subsequent events and key figures helped build the groundwork that would lead to he “Golden Age” of Dutch graphic design in the 1980–90s — a subject dear to his heart! Her Excellency, Ines Coppoolse, Ambassador at the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to Canada, was kind enough to provide an illuminating introduction.
We enjoyed working with Petra Barth and Sarah Leen to design Anderswo / Elsewhere, a collection of stark and beautiful photographs about memory and small moments of observation. It was the recipient of the International Photography Awards (IPA) 2020, Third Place.