Busan's Independent Creative Community Joins Forces for 'Rootbound' Poetry Event

Liquid Arts Network, Book'd Events, and Dububiji partner for a multi-arts celebration on Aug. 15

Three of Busan's independent creative organizations — Liquid Arts Network, Book'd Events, and Dububiji — are joining forces on Aug. 15 for a combined afternoon and evening celebrating literature, conversation, music, and visual art. The program centers on South African poet Manthipe Moila and her debut poetry collection, "Rootbound," which explores themes of identity, belonging, migration, and home.

Busan, South Korea's second-largest city and its busiest port, has long been a gateway for international exchange, attracting expatriates, artists, and educators from around the world. The Aug. 15 event reflects how that international presence has steadily given rise to its own grassroots cultural infrastructure — one built not by government initiative but by individuals creating the spaces and communities they found missing.

Moila has spoken openly about how closely the collection reflects her personal journey. "I drew directly from my experiences when writing, as I wanted to feel anchored in my writing," she said. "The Korean language is also something that I am grappling with. It's difficult ... but I love the language."

Afternoon Program: An Intimate Readers' Gathering

The afternoon begins at 3 p.m. with an intimate readers' gathering hosted by Book'd Events inside Dububiji's community space. Designed as more conversation than lecture, the session invites participants to engage directly with the themes of Moila's poetry and get to know the author in an informal, welcoming environment.

Book'd Events, founded by Christine McGready, regularly organizes clothing swaps, wellness events, crafting sessions, book exchanges, artistic gatherings, and other community-centered activities at local independent cafes and businesses throughout Busan. The organization was created to help people build the kinds of relationships that can be difficult to find after relocating abroad.

"When expats move abroad, we leave behind more than our friends, family and loved ones. We leave our community and support system behind, too. Speaking from personal experience, it can be really hard to make friends and build a community, especially in a foreign country," McGready said. "I created Book'd with the intention of giving people a safe space to meet others and build a community, regardless of how long they'll be in Busan for."

McGready views partnerships like this one as an opportunity for Busan's creative communities to introduce their respective audiences to new experiences while strengthening the city's broader cultural network.

Liquid Arts Network: 26 Years of Creative Community-Building

While "Rootbound" provides the focal point for the event, the broader significance lies in the collaboration itself.

Liquid Arts Network has spent more than two decades creating opportunities for writers, musicians, and visual artists to connect. Through readings, exhibitions, performances, and interdisciplinary collaborations, the organization has cultivated one of the city's longest-running creative networks. Its longevity is notable in a city where English-language arts programming has often been episodic, tied to the comings and goings of individual organizers rather than sustained institutions.

"For the last 26 years, it has been an honor to serve the Busan community by sponsoring a variety of art events," said Kenneth May, founder of Liquid Arts Network. "It's statistically unlikely that I'll be around another 26 years, so it's great to see a younger generation of folks and organizations like Book'd Events and Dububiji stepping into the scene and carrying the torch of cultivating creativity and community forward."

Dububiji: Building Busan's Independent Arts Scene

Matthew Koshmrl, founder of Dububiji, is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, educator, and community organizer based in Busan. Having previously built film communities in the United States, he founded Dububiji to strengthen Busan's independent arts scene by creating opportunities for collaboration, cultural exchange, and sustainable creative careers.

"I moved from Seoul to open Dububiji because I've always believed that some of the most interesting art comes from places like Busan, not just a country's cultural capital. Local storytelling across film, performance, music, literature and the visual arts is essential to a healthy creative ecosystem. I saw how heavily concentrated Korea's media and arts industries have become around Seoul, and I wanted to build Dububiji as one small piece of the solution," Koshmrl said.

"Just as importantly, Dububiji exists to foster real human connection. We want to create a place where people can put their phones away, experience art together and engage face to face. In a world increasingly shaped by isolating technologies like social media and (artificial intelligence), we believe shared cultural experiences and human creativity are more valuable than ever."

Koshmrl emphasized that this collaboration reflects exactly what Dububiji was designed to encourage: "We want people to experience different art forms together, discover new voices and build creative collaborations that lead to lasting projects. By bringing artists and audiences together, we hope to create a community that can collectively support creative careers in Busan."

Together, the three organizations represent a growing trend within Busan's independent arts community — one in which creative groups increasingly support one another rather than operating in isolation, creating an ecosystem where audiences, artists, and ideas naturally overlap.

Evening Program: Improvised Music and Live Painting

Following the afternoon gathering, the celebration continues with Liquid Arts' open evening event starting at 6:30 p.m. The program expands beyond literature into an improvised conversation between music and visual art. Visiting artist Kathleen Hurley-Liao will create an original painting live while Busan-based trumpet player Gordon Bazsali Jr. provides improvised musical accompaniment.

Hurley-Liao is no stranger to Busan's creative community. This marks her second residency in the city, reflecting the international artistic exchanges fostered by Naughty Muse Studios, another organization that has played an important role in supporting Busan's independent arts ecosystem through artist residencies and collaborative programming.

'Rootbound': Exploring Identity and Belonging

The title "Rootbound" carries meaning well beyond its botanical origins. For Moila, "roots" are not simply where someone comes from, but a way of understanding identity, belonging, and what it means to feel at home.

"One's 'roots' are also seen as the true, eternal home. To be alienated from your roots is necessarily to have an identity crisis of existential proportions. In a more globalized landscape where cultures shift constantly, I wondered if there was room to complicate this narrative. What does it mean now, in the digital age, and in the age of mass migration, to feel at home? To have roots?"

For Moila, writing the collection became its own journey of self-discovery: "The journey of writing 'Rootbound' was like a journey to myself ... I used literature as a medium to say what I needed to say."

Those questions resonate beyond the pages of the book. For many members of Busan's international community, finding home has always been about more than finding a place to live — it has meant finding people, conversations, and creative spaces where belonging can take root. The Aug. 15 event, with its blend of literary readings, improvised performance, and face-to-face dialogue, offers a glimpse of what that ecosystem looks like when its scattered parts converge under one roof.

Spencer Waters is the co-founder of OurBusan.life, an English-language platform dedicated to connecting Busan's international community through local events, businesses, organizations, and resources. Originally from the United States, he has called Busan home since 2018.