K-Content News
Local art biennales explore post-pandemic era starting in September
- August 31, 2021
Local art biennales explore post-pandemic era starting in September
Updated : 2021-08-31 09:07
By Park Han-sol
The month of September in Korea will be marked by a wide range of art biennales, both established and new, scheduled to be held across country. Each with a focus on a different medium ― media art, photography, craft and design works ― the events, held in Seoul, Gwangju, Daegu and Cheongju, among others, aim to transform the future and the role of art in the post-pandemic era.
The 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, one of the country's major art events alongside the Gwangju Biennale and Busan Biennale, will take place from Sept. 8 to Nov. 21, after a yearlong delay.
Themed, "One Escape at a Time," this year's biennale will be directed by Yung Ma, who formerly served as the curator of the Contemporary and Prospective Creation Department at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
It will showcase the media works of 41 Korean and international artist teams that reconsider our relationship with escapism ― or the mental effort to escape from reality or routine, which became an especially prominent concept amid the global COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
The notable feature of this year's event is its organizational structure, which extends beyond the main exhibition space at the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), both virtually and physically. In addition to its online channel, the Seoul Mediacity Biennale will take place in the form of performances, guided tours and artist talks in more than 100 places across the city, including cafes, bookstores and even Seoul Botanic Park.
"In view of the prolonged pandemic, we are striving to suggest a different way to approach art and culture, as well as to show that art can remain sustainable outside of the existing system through a new method of display," SeMA director Beck Jee-sook said in a statement.
Another large-scale event that will finally open its doors to the public after being delayed for a year is the 8th Daegu Photo Biennale, scheduled to be held from Sept. 10 to Nov. 2. The works of more than 350 photographers from 32 countries ― including renowned artists Erwin Olaf, Sarah Choo Jing and Simon Norfolk ― will explore the theme, "Missing Agenda ― Even Below 37.5."
According to the event's artistic director Sim Sang-yong, the coronavirus has transformed the number 37.5, the human body temperature regarded as medically "normal," into a new potential threat, as a threshold between the healthy and the infected.
But even before the pandemic, during times considered normal to us ("below 37.5"), issues such as "the rise of extreme social and economic polarization, the reemergence of racial discrimination, the threats of wars and terrorist attacks (and) the struggles of refugees stranded between borders," have continued to remain important tasks for humanity to undertake, correct and solve. The virus simply made these topics that had previously been swept under the rug into a more concrete reality.
The other biennales kicking off next month are the Gwangju Design Biennale, themed, "d-Revolution," to explore the rapid technological advances in the field of design; the Jeonnam International SUMUK Biennale in South Jeolla Province, a platform to bring the splendor of classical ink wash landscape paintings into the present era; and the Cheongju Craft Biennale in North Chungcheong Province, a stage to examine the role of craft within the context of making a sustainable future.
The month of September in Korea will be marked by a wide range of art biennales, both established and new, scheduled to be held across country. Each with a focus on a different medium ― media art, photography, craft and design works ― the events, held in Seoul, Gwangju, Daegu and Cheongju, among others, aim to transform the future and the role of art in the post-pandemic era.
The 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, one of the country's major art events alongside the Gwangju Biennale and Busan Biennale, will take place from Sept. 8 to Nov. 21, after a yearlong delay.
Themed, "One Escape at a Time," this year's biennale will be directed by Yung Ma, who formerly served as the curator of the Contemporary and Prospective Creation Department at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
It will showcase the media works of 41 Korean and international artist teams that reconsider our relationship with escapism ― or the mental effort to escape from reality or routine, which became an especially prominent concept amid the global COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
The notable feature of this year's event is its organizational structure, which extends beyond the main exhibition space at the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), both virtually and physically. In addition to its online channel, the Seoul Mediacity Biennale will take place in the form of performances, guided tours and artist talks in more than 100 places across the city, including cafes, bookstores and even Seoul Botanic Park.
"In view of the prolonged pandemic, we are striving to suggest a different way to approach art and culture, as well as to show that art can remain sustainable outside of the existing system through a new method of display," SeMA director Beck Jee-sook said in a statement.
Another large-scale event that will finally open its doors to the public after being delayed for a year is the 8th Daegu Photo Biennale, scheduled to be held from Sept. 10 to Nov. 2. The works of more than 350 photographers from 32 countries ― including renowned artists Erwin Olaf, Sarah Choo Jing and Simon Norfolk ― will explore the theme, "Missing Agenda ― Even Below 37.5."
According to the event's artistic director Sim Sang-yong, the coronavirus has transformed the number 37.5, the human body temperature regarded as medically "normal," into a new potential threat, as a threshold between the healthy and the infected.
But even before the pandemic, during times considered normal to us ("below 37.5"), issues such as "the rise of extreme social and economic polarization, the reemergence of racial discrimination, the threats of wars and terrorist attacks (and) the struggles of refugees stranded between borders," have continued to remain important tasks for humanity to undertake, correct and solve. The virus simply made these topics that had previously been swept under the rug into a more concrete reality.
The other biennales kicking off next month are the Gwangju Design Biennale, themed, "d-Revolution," to explore the rapid technological advances in the field of design; the Jeonnam International SUMUK Biennale in South Jeolla Province, a platform to bring the splendor of classical ink wash landscape paintings into the present era; and the Cheongju Craft Biennale in North Chungcheong Province, a stage to examine the role of craft within the context of making a sustainable future.
Reporter : hansolp@koreatimes.co.kr
