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.
Busan Biennale 2016 Artistic Director
Yun Cheagab
b. 1968 / Korea
Director, HOW Art Museum, Shanghai
Project 2 Curator
Education
- 1998-2000 Completed graduate course, Indian Art History, Visva-Bharati University, India
- 1995-1997 Completed graduate course, Chinese Modern and Contemporary Art History, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
- 1988-1995 BA, Art Studies, Hong-ik University, Seoul, Korea
Career
- 2012-Present Director, HOW Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2010-2011 Commissioner, Korean Pavilion, 54th International Art Exhibition- la Biennale di Venezia
- 2005-2010 Director, Arario Gallery (Beijing, Seoul, and New York)
- 2003-2006 Co-Director, Alternative Space LOOP, Seoul, Korea
GUO Xiaoyan
b. 1963 / China
Vice-director, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing
Project 1 Curator
Education
- 1985 Graduated at Shanxi normal university, majored in educational psycology, BA
- 2001 Completed at Sichuan university, department of philosophy, public utility management, MA
Career
- 2010-Present Vice-Director of Beijing Minsheng Art Museum and Chief Operating Officer of The Institute
- 2008-2010 Chief Curator of UCCA, Beijing
- 2008 Research Curator for the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial
- 2005 Co-curator of the 2nd Guangzhou triennial
- 2002-2007 Vice Director of the Guangzhou Triennial Office at the Guangdong Museum of Art
SAWARAGI Noi
b. 1962 / Japan
Art critic, Professor of General Education in the Faculty of Art and Design at Tama Art University
Project 1 Curator
Education
- 1986 Culture Department in the Faculty of Literature at Doshisha University
Career
- 2007-2008 Guest researcher at TrAIN Research Centre at the University of the Arts, London
- 1992 anomaly, Roentgen Kunst Institut, Tokyo, Japan
- 1998 『Nihon gendai bijutsu (Japan, Modernity, and Art)』
(Shinchosha Publishing Co., Ltd., 1998) - 2007 『Senso to bijutsu 1937 – 1945 (Art in Wartime Japan 1937 – 1945)』
(Kokushokan-koukai, 2007) with Ichiro Haryu and others
TATEHATA Akira
b. 1947 / Japan
Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
Project 1 Curator
Education
- 1972 the Department of French Literature at Waseda
Career
- 2010 Artistic director of Aichi Triennale 2010
- 2005-2011 Director of the National Museum of Art, Osaka
- 2001 Artistic Director of the 1st Yokohama Biennale
- 1990, 1993 Commissioner of the Japan Pavilion at Venice Biennale
UEDA Yuzo
b. 1951 / Japan
Director, Gallery Q
Project 1 Curator
Education
- 1976 Department of Graphic Design at Tama Art University
Career
- 2015 56th International Art Exhibition in Venezia-All the World’s Futures Tetsuya Ishida,Venezia, Italy
- 2009 Korean Diaspora Artists in Asia - Quac Insic, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
- 2003 Itami Jun Achitecture, Guest curator, Guimet Museum, Paris, France
- 2000 Gwangju Biennale 2000 - Art and Human Rights Section of the Asia, Assistant Curator, Gwangju Biennale Hall, Korea
Kim, Chan-Dong
b. 1957 / Korea
Director, Museum Headquarters of Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation
Project 1 Curator
Education
- 2010 Ph.D (Completed), Department of Culture Contents, Hanyang University
- 1987 M.F.A., Department of Western Painting, Hongik University
- 1984 B.A., Department of Department of Western Painting, Hongik University
Career
- Served as the Visaul Arts Expert of Arts Council Korea
- Served as the Director of ARKO Art Center
- Served as the Vice President, Korean Association of Arts Management
- 2002 City Univ. Visiting Researcher, London, UK
- 1996-2014 Publisher and Editor, 『Art & Discourse』
- 1984-1998 Curator and Director, ARKO Art Center
Selected Exhibitions(Curated)
- 2000 Insa Art Center Opening Exhibition, Insa Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Song of Earth, Frederichianum Museum, Kassel, Germany
Small Discourse, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Gwangju Biennale Special Exhibition, Gwangju, Korea
KIM Ku-Lim solo exhibition – From phenomenon to - 1999 LEE Kun-Young solo exhibition, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea
- 1998 PARK Hyun-Ki solo exhibition, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea
- 1997 LEE Seung-Taek solo exhibition, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea