Assemblyman Lee Byung-hoon's 'Asia Ceramic Culture Center and Gwangju Biennale Hall' Construction Project Progressing Smoothly

Reflection of Next Year's Budget and First Selection of Feasibility Study

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Congressman Lee Byung-hoon (Democratic Party of Korea·Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu Eul) announced on the 31st that the projects for the ‘Asia Ceramic Culture Center’ and the ‘Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall Construction’ were respectively reflected in the 2021 government budget and selected as the first phase of feasibility study projects.

The ‘Asia Ceramic Culture Center’ is a facility dedicated to professionally exhibiting the Sinan Undersea Relics at the National Gwangju Museum and for the exchange and archiving of Asian ceramic culture, while the Gwangju Biennale Hall project involves constructing a new exhibition hall as a world-class contemporary art complex to ensure the continuous development of the Gwangju Biennale, which has grown into one of the world’s leading biennales.

The Asia Ceramic Culture Center has been exhibiting over 145,000 Sinan Undersea Relics using only a part of the Gwangju Museum, resulting in cramped exhibition space and even a shortage of storage space, with relics simply stacked in the existing storage facilities.

By constructing the Asia Ceramic Culture Center, it is expected to revitalize international ceramic culture centered on the Gwangju-Jeonnam region, which was a key route for ancient Asian ceramic exchange.

Additionally, the existing Gwangju Biennale exhibition hall is cramped and old, with issues such as leaks inside the exhibition hall, making it difficult to serve as a hub for Asian contemporary art.

Therefore, a new exhibition hall with an innovative architectural concept connecting Jungoe Park and the Gwangju Museum by spanning over the Honam Expressway has been requested from the government. In particular, since Jungoe Park corresponds to the ‘Visual Media Culture District’ of the Asia Culture City, Gwangju City plans to establish it as a convergent cultural platform of technology, humanities, and arts, making it a core hub for cultural arts tourism.

Congressman Lee Byung-hoon has regarded these two major projects as important prerequisites for the development of Gwangju’s culture and arts and has continuously urged the government to actively promote them.

If these projects are successfully completed, the Jungoe Park area will be transformed into a premier tourism and art experience district, representing Gwangju’s visual media and historical cultural belt. Based on Jungoe Park, the National Gwangju Museum, Asia Ceramic Culture Center, Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju Museum of Art, and Gwangju Folk Museum will be concentrated within the same tourism zone.

Meanwhile, Congressman Lee served as the head of the Asia Culture City Promotion Group for about five years starting in 2007, laying the foundation for the creation of a cultural city including the construction of the Asia Culture Center and the seven major cultural zones (currently five) of the Asia Culture City. In 2018, he served as the Vice Mayor for Culture and Economy of Gwangju Metropolitan City, dedicating significant efforts to projects such as cultural city creation, Gwangju-type jobs, and AI business promotion, integrating technology and arts culture.

Currently, as a member of the 21st National Assembly, he has proposed amendments to the ‘Asia Culture City Special Act’ to make the Asia Culture Center a government-affiliated institution and extend the special law period, and has also suggested promoting cultural new deal projects to prepare future growth engines for Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.