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.
2014 Story
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관리자 2014-09-16 17:13
2014
Fresco Giclee Print, Fabric
77x102cm
Story
Born in Japan as a Korean-Japanese, I didn’t have my own country, my own religion, or my own story. The only things I knew was that I was born and lives in a place called Japan, and that the blood flowing through my body is derived from people from a country called Korea.
Children grow up listening to stories, at such times as before going to sleep, or when feeling alone. Listening to stories repeatedly and taking them into yourself seems to me to be a process of confirming the reason why you are where you are.
I listened to the stories of folklore, myth, or religion, but they never fit me, no matter whether they were Japanese or Korean.
I have two clearly recognizable memories in me:
1. The memory of being brought up in Japan, a country of polytheism and multi-culture.
2. The memory that I have inherited from my ancestors and that resides in my body and my DNA.
When these two memories overlap, a new story is born inside of me.
I create my own story, weaving each of my memories together, in order to confirm my existence.