Gwangju Biennale aims to wrestle with contemporary social issues

GWANGJU, April 5 (Yonhap) -- Gwangju Biennale, one of the major art festivals in Asia, will showcase a diverse spectrum of contemporary artists' works to resonate with a broader audience and delve into the role of art in society, its artistic director said Wednesday.

The 14th biannual event will be held from April 7 to July 9 across five venues in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul, and will feature works by 79 artists from around the world.

Themed "Soft and Weak Like Water," the biennale takes metaphor from water's capacity to embrace contradictions and paradoxes by inviting artists from diverse generations, cultural backgrounds and regions.

Artistic Director Lee Sook-kyung said she believes the role of art is to address people of the world's shared crisis, including race and class conflicts, climate emergency, and environmental concerns, on a "planetary dimension."

"When it comes to curating, I think reflecting aspects of contemporary society is the most important," Lee said during a press conference at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall.

For this year's show, the art director hopes to reinterpret and reexamine the spirit of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, a symbol of Korea's revolt against military rule, through a transnational approach.

"I wanted to see what artists in other parts of the world think about such issues as resistance, unfairness and justice," said Lee, a senior curator of International Art at Tate Modern. "I wanted Gwangju's perspective to become a focal point."

This year, it will feature pavilions of nine countries, including Canada, China, France, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine, to present their artworks and multimedia projects.

During an opening ceremony slated for Thursday evening, the organizer will award the Park Seo-bo Art Prize, an inaugural prize named after the master of Korean monochrome painting, to an artist or a group. The winner will receive a golden dove emblem and a cash prize of US$100,000.

ejkim@yna.co.kr
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