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.
2018 American Pie
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관리자 2018-08-21 10:52
American Pie, Mixed media, Dimensions variable, 2016, Courtesy of the artist
CHIN Cheng-Te
American Pie
His work American Pie (2016) is showcased at this year’s biennale. It is an installation comprising historic objects and documents that serve as a record of the economic, political, and cultural context of Taiwan, which was sandwiched between the United States and China during the Cold War. This archive has six sections that are centered around the ‘Island Chain Strategy’ introduced by US diplomat John Foster Dulles in 1951 during the Korean War. The ‘Island Chain Strategy’ connected islands across Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, and Hawaii along the coastline of East Asia to act as a check on China and the Soviet Union. The sections include ‘US Aid’ that showing the US government’s economic and military support to Taiwan ranging from agricultural products to electricity and transport facilities; ‘Independent Taiwan’ dealing with Taiwanese independence from China; ‘Anti-communism to the Continent’, dealing with complex sentiment towards the Chinese government; ‘Influence of US culture’, showing how US culture pervaded Taiwan through various channels during the Cold War; and, finally, a section showing the lives of US soldiers based in Taiwan during the era, which was similar to those of the US troops stationed in Korea.