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.
2012 Holy City
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관리자 2013-03-25 11:12
Holy City
A city is a place formed by the history of time and a common life, and accumulated memory that can lead to human commonness and common senses. Ostensibly, a city is a combination of architectures, roads, parks, rivers, mountains, and etc. Its overall shape depends on the ground where the city is located, in which various lives are reflected.
Considering metropolitan cities like Busan, it is so difficult to comprehend the city in one glance due to a broad landscape and people's diverse life styles. The most attractive part of Busan, however, is a port city. The coastline, a boundary between the ocean and land, organizes a boundary of the city, and has a significant influence on the form of the city. In addition, another fascinating part is that it has many mountains, the city areas expand along the valleys in the mountains. And the rivers in the valleys, the Suyoung River, the Dongcheon, etc, play a key role in forming the structure of the city.
If I from Seoul am asked about "what is Busan like?," I will call it 'the City of Density' without hesitation. Coincidentally, I have had a chance to observe all over the city about once in a decade for over a week.