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 Minyo, There And Here
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관리자 2018-08-21 11:00
Minyo, There And Here, 4K video, 6min 45sec, Dimensions variable, 2018, Courtesy of the artist, Commissioned by Busan Biennale 2018
Tumen #9, Digital C-print, 28 x 16 cm, 2018
Tumen #10, Digital C-print, 28 x 18 cm, 2018
Tumen #8, Digital C-print, 28 x 16 cm, 2018
Tumen #1, Digital C-print, 28 x 18 cm, 2018
Tumen #7, Digital C-print, 45 x 30 cm, 2018
Tumen #5, Digital C-print, 75 x 50 cm, 2018
Tumen #4, Digital C-print, 40 x 60 cm, 2018
Tumen #2, Digital C-print, 45 x 30 cm, 2018
Tumen #3, Digital C-print, 45 x 30 cm, 2018
Tumen #6, Digital C-print, 50 x 75 cm, 2018, All courtesy of the artist, Commissioned by Busan Biennale 2018
JOO Hwang
Minyo, There And Here
Tumen #9
Tumen #10
Tumen #8
Tumen #1
Tumen #7
Tumen #5
Tumen #4
Tumen #2
Tumen #3
Tumen #6
Joo Hwang’s recent work has focused on the Korean Diaspora who had to leave Korea—either voluntarily or by force in the midst of the modern Korean history—and move to places such as China, Japan, Russia’s Primorsky region and Central Asia. Her new work Minyo, There And Here (2018–ongoing) comprises photographs depicting landscapes around the border between China and North Korea and a video installation that captures Korean immigrants in China, Japan, and Central Asia singing Korean folk songs—minyo in Korean—in close-up shots. The artist uses minyo to trace back the history of the Korean Diaspora. Minyo is created by ordinary people in the community. The rhythms change as they are handed down orally and lyrics are altered in different situations. Minyo changes not only over generations and by regions, but also depending on the individual community. Through the rhythms and lyrics of minyo, people can vaguely guess the life of the community, its trajectory, and the cultural and social conditions at the time when they were sung. When listening to the songs in Joo Hwang’s video, they feel familiar to Korean ears, but then unfamiliar. Through subtle differences in motions and expressions in the tight shots of the video and different interpretations of the songs, we can guess the cultural gap that has occurred due to the disconnec-ted time and the physical distance. As a community that shares culture regardless of border or nationality, the Korean Diaspora is part of Korean history and is a serious issue today to be considered amidst rapidly changing inter-Korean relations and the political climate surrounding the Korean peninsula. Using minyo sung by Korean immigrants overseas, Joo Hwang analyzes the common history that has remained in their lives and culture as well as the differences from today’s Korea to explore the current thinking about ‘ethnicity’, an identity which is exclusive but sometimes flexible.