RIT/NTID lecture series to feature artist and alumna Christine Sun Kim, April 23

Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf will host an evening with artist and alumna Christine Sun Kim as part of the college’s Edmund Lyon Memorial Lectureship Series, 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in the new RIT Performing Arts Center. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

Kim is an American artist based in Berlin. Her practice considers how sound operates in society, deconstructing the politics of sound and exploring how oral languages operate as social currency. Musical notation, written language, infographics, American Sign Language (ASL), the use of the body, and strategically deployed humor are all recurring elements in her practice. Working across drawing, performance, video and large-scale murals, Kim explores her relationship to spoken and signed languages, her built and social environments, and the world at large.

“Christine, or ‘CK,’ as she is known to most of us at RIT/NTID, is a prolific artist whose exploration of sound and language are truly fascinating,” said Caroline Solomon, NTID president and RIT vice president. “We are thrilled to welcome CK back to her alma mater to share her incredible work.”

Kim has exhibited and performed internationally, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2025); Gwangju Biennale (2023); Secession, Vienna (2023); Queens Museum, New York (2022); the Drawing Center, New York (2022); and the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2021) among numerous others.

Kim’s awards and fellowships include an MIT Media Lab Fellowship, a United States Artists fellowship, a Ford and Mellon Foundations’ Disabilities Future Fellowship, and the Prix International d’Art Contemporain of the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. Her works are held in numerous prominent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, LACMA, Tate Britain, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others

Established in 1980, the Lyon Lecture Series brings distinguished speakers to RIT/NTID to share expertise and scholarly contributions that stand on the cutting edge of advancement in the education and career success of deaf people. Edmund Lyon (1855-1920) was a noted manufacturer, inventor, humanitarian and philanthropist in Rochester, who served as a trustee of both RIT and Rochester School for the Deaf.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required at https://www.rit.edu/go/ck-lyon. Interpreting services will be available. For more information, go to rit.edu/ntid/lyon.

This story originally appeared in RIT News.