Mihee-Nathalie Lemoine, montreal, canada / korea / belgium

Mihee-Nathalie Lemoine is a Gemini-monkey (earth)
Korean-born French speaker Belgian artist and activist
based recently in Montreal, Canad, after 13 years in
Seoul (1993-2006). Lemoine unintentionally became a
pioneer to adoptees returning to Korea.

Her activist work started in 1991, when she
established Euro-Korean League, the first adoptee
association, in her adoptive country. Later, in April
1994, she co-founded a branch in Korea with a Swedish
Korean-born adoptee, to create the first-ever adult
adoptee association (EKL-Korea). When in 1997, the
Belgian association changed its name to Ko-Bel, The
E.K.L-Korean Branch was renamed “Korean Overseas
Adoptees” (K.O.A. or “koa” means “orphan” in Korean).
In 1998, along with about 6 adult adoptees (4
Europeans and 2 Americans), Lemoine co-founded and
served as the first president of Global Overseas
Adoptees Link (G.O.A’L). She has been a committee
member of K.A.A.N. (Korean Adoptee Adoptive family
Network) since 2000, and has initiated workshops on
GLTB adoptees, artist adoptees, and adoptees returning
to their birth-land.
During her 12-year-long stay in Korea, she has helped
more than 600 adoptees in their searches, and has
reconnected approximately 220 so-called “impossible”
cases on an independent and volunteer basis.

Lemoine’s artistic journey started in 1989 with her
first short film Adoption, the first film created
about Korean adoptees. Adoption won the First prize of
the Brussels Short Film Festival. In March 1996, she
organized the first adoptee artist exhibition titled
West to East. Soon after, with other “diasporic”
artists and scholars, Lemoine established the artist
groups KameleonZ, Han Diaspora and KimLeePark
Productions. Lemoine has also held 12 solo exhibits,
and participated in numerous group shows nationally
and internationally.

In 2000, her first book was published in Korean,
titled 55% Korean. Since 2001, Lemoine has
collaborated with kate hers to publish the annual
OKAYbook, a guidebook on Young Korean Overseas artists
(including in the Korean disapora, adoptees, 1.5
/2nd/3rd generation, mixed race). Lemoine’s other
dreams are to publish an anthology on Korean adoptees
writings in French, to make a “Best of” of the
OKAYbook, and to concentrate on her art. Lemoine
simply believes in art and social justice.

my personal web is http://www.chomihee.org (not update
but still ok to give you an overview of my stuff)
my log is http://360.yahoo.com/nathalie_cho