Busan Biennale
The Busan Biennale is a biannual international contemporary art show that integrated three different art events held in the city in 1998: the Busan Youth Biennale, the first biennale of Korea that was voluntarily organized by local artists in 1981; the Sea Art Festival, an environmental art festival launched in 1987 with the sea serving as a backdrop; and the Busan International Outdoor Sculpture Symposium that was first held in 1991. The biennale was previously called the Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival (PICAF) before it launched.
The biennale has its own unique attribute in that it was formed not out of any political logic or need but rather the pure force of local Busan artists’ will and their voluntary participation. Even to this day their interest in Busan's culture and its experimental nature has been the key foundation for shaping the biennale’s identity.
This biennale is the only one like it in the world that was established through an integration of three types of art events such as a Contemporary Art Exhibition, Sculpture Symposium, and Sea Art Festival. The Sculpture Symposium in particular was deemed to be a successful public art event, the results of which were installed throughout the city and dedicated to revitalizing cultural communication with citizens. The networks formed through the event have assumed a crucial role in introducing and expanding domestic art overseas and leading the development of local culture for globalized cultural communication. Founded 38 years ago, the biennale aims to popularize contemporary art and achieve art in everyday life by providing a platform for interchanging experimental contemporary art.
Rajyashri Goody
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BB2024 2024-12-02 10:43
Did you open the door, or did you find it open for you?, 2023, paper pulp, newspaper, 4-channel sound, dimension variable.
No real good can be secured by over-modesty, 2024, performance, bowls, 4-channel sound, dimension variable.
काय करु आता धरुनिया भीड | नि:शंक हे तोंड वाजविले ||
नव्हे जगी कोणी मुकियांचा जाण | सार्थक लाजून नव्हे हित ||
Why should I feel shy?
I have laid aside hesitation and opened my mouth wide.
Here on earth, no notice is taken of a voiceless child.
No real good can be secured by over-modesty.
No real good can be secured by over-modesty (2024) is centred on the overturning of a bowl, an interpretation of the Buddha using his begging bowl to demonstrate how his stupa should be made. A symbol of transformation, the stupa has become important for the Dalit community, particularly in Dalit space-making and architectural practices. In this performance, hundreds of bowls collected in Busan are transformed into stupas. The gesture is made in recognition of resistance within the Dalit community: giving up their begging bowls, refusing to be subservient. Alongside the performance are the words of the 17th century Bhakti poet Tukaram, upholding one's voice. In this context the words ambiguously evoke a confession, an order, an allegation, or a lullaby.
Did you open the door, or did you find it open for you? (2023) honours activist and political-leader Dr. Ambedkar and the millions of Dalit people repressed by the caste system. Pulped books and newspapers are patted onto the wall in the shadow-form of a stupa, marking the Dalit community's 1956 mass conversion to Buddhism, and rising literacy and power amongst Dalit people since the 20th century. The sound of Dr. Ambedkar’s voice accompanies the stupa, urging us to ‘see’, to ‘educate, agitate, and organise’ in acts small and large.
