The Round Table:

A Preview of Gwangju Biennale

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Article by Seth Pevey
Photos by Jessica Solomatenko

In the past, Korea was often referred to as the ‘Hermit Kingdom’ because of its rather insular and inward-looking tendency to avoid involvement in the world beyond its own borders. But, just like a child grown to maturity, nicknames are often outgrown.

The international language of art has proved a common tongue in Korea’s eventual conversations with the world at large, and our own fair city of Gwangju, with its devotion to questioning the status quo, has proven a special bastion for creativity and innovation, and it all started with the first Biennale in 1995—Asia’s first modern biannual art exhibition.

Some time has passed since that first showcase, and this September will mark the start of the 9th Gwangju Biennale. At a recent press conference, Gwangju News was fortunate enough to meet the six new curators: an assortment of intellectual and artistic women from around the world. We listened as they gave us a quick preview of things to come.

The theme for this year’s exhibition will be “Round Table”, and it is intended to be exactly what it sounds like: an open and frank meeting of minds in which free discourse and interpretation are encouraged and experienced through various works of art.

The curators themselves are as lovely and eclectic as the art itself. Carol Yinghua Lu, the curator from Beijing, had an air of diligence about her as she jotted notes throughout the press conference. She spoke a little bit about what kind of ideologies would be mulled over in the course of the exhibition. To her mind, aspirations and politics are one and the same; the hopes and dreams expressed in art are in themselves powerful political statements.

A Round Table brings together different peoples, different moments in time, different positions of power existing in any social, political and cultural structure, as well as different roles of the art industry.

Alia Swastika is based in Jakarta. A true woman of the world, she sincerely tried to greet her audience in Korean, and this after only an hour in the country (her first ever visit). She had a calm smile and a reassuring laugh, and reaffirmed the international nature of the exhibit by saying, “[we want] to gain inspiration from artists all over the world.”

The Indian curator is the lovely Nancy Adajania. With dark, piercing eyes, Nancy is a cultural theorist, art critic and independent curator based in Bombay. She thoughtfully answered several questions about the nature of art and its creation. “The very act of creation is in itself a political statement,” she said, confidently confirming the importance of art in a social context.

Wassan Al-Khydhari is the director of the Qatar Museum of Modern Arab art, and will be complementing the group with her substantial experience and expertise.

But of course, what would a group of Gwangju Biennale curators be without a Korean to traverse the local culture and language. Kim Su Jung rounds off the team with her experience as an independent curator and professor at the Korea National Institute of Arts. Girlish, inquisitive and intellectual, Su Jung will lend roots to the group from her Seoul-based office.

Although the other curators will remain in their far-flung locales for most of the Biennale exhibition, the powers of the internet will allow them to fulfill their duties from abroad, and all six women seem dedicated, knowledgeable, and sincere.

So, what exactly is the “Round Table”? A more detailed explanation can be found in the press release which accompanied the conference.

“Our attempt to acknowledge the importance of being together, no matter where we are, in terms of our national, social, economic, political and historical standings, no matter what conditions we live under, no matter what encounters we experience, no matter what personal and public difficulties we undergo, no matter what desires we have and no matter what visions we have for our lives. It is a call to rediscover foundations based on which we can be brought together and to look for new horizons and proposals for ways of being together. A Round Table brings together different peoples, different moments in time, different positions of power existing in any social, political and cultural structure, as well as different roles of the art industry.”

The cool winds of September, and the promising 9th Gwangju Biennale, will be here before you know it. Make sure to keep a spot clear in your fall calendar for a special visit to the Round Table exhibition.

This article also appeared in Gwangju News, February 2012 print version.