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.
Enemy's House (Masanori Tomii)
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관리자 2022-12-19 10:06
Collaboration Professor, Guga Urban Architecture
After Korea’s liberation in 1945, the US Military Government in Korea administered the assets owned by Japan (Japanese people) there as “reverted properties.” Three years later, these reverted properties became the state’s property as jurisdiction was transferred to the newly created Republic of Korea government. The scope of these properties ranged from infrastructures such as roads and ports to public facilities such as military and government offices; industrial and commercial facilities such as factories, banks, and arcades; residential facilities such as private and general housing; and intangible assets such as stocks and bonds. The term used to refer to the colonial legacy of reverted homes, stores, factories, and warehouses was jeoksan gaok. Since these buildings often had Japanese-style wood tile roofs and tatami-based environments, they were also referred to as “Japanese-style houses.” Literally meaning “enemy property,” the term jeoksan may have come from the Enemy Property Administration Act. That act, which was created during the World War, enabled countries involved in hostilities at the time to assume the administration of enemy property within their borders. This appears to be why the USAMGIK created the new concept of “reverted property” instead of “enemy property” when it administered these assets after liberation.
In addition to the Korean Peninsula, “enemy’s house” buildings were also widespread in other areas controlled by Japan, including China, Taiwan, and Sakhalin. Since the 1980s, I have been researching comparing the residential cultures associated with Japanese-style residences in different East Asian countries. I have surveyed many quite beautiful buildings, ranging from the old arcades and red-light districts of the “old city” at Yongdusan, where the Japanese concession was located, to the cultural residences of the Oncheon and Daesin neighborhoods in the “new city”; the row houses of Yeongdo; the luxurious villas of Oncheon in Dongnae District, built by shipping wood and carpenters over from Japan; and the modern inns of Haeundae. Most of them are now gone, while the few remaining buildings are preserved as registered cultural heritage.