Applications Open Until Next Month 3 for 'Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival' Contest

Published 21 Jun.2022 12:40(KST)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho] Gwangju Shinsegae announced on the 21st that it is accepting applications for the ‘Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival,’ held to discover young and talented artists in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions.

Applications can be submitted through the Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival website for two weeks until the 3rd of next month.

The final winners will be announced at the end of August after the ‘23rd Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival 1st Selected Artists Exhibition’ held in August.

Marking its 23rd year this year, the Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival has continuously strived over the past 26 years to establish itself as a practical artist support competition contributing to the development of local art culture.

The festival has broadly embraced artists’ individuality and introduced and supported award-winning artists through various channels such as invitational exhibitions, art seminars, domestic and international cultural tours, and diverse planned exhibitions and projects.

Its goal is to widely promote talented local artists and properly nurture the future-oriented value of regional art.

The Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival began in 1996 as the ‘Shinsegae Art Festival - Theme Contest’ and changed its name to ‘Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival - Creative Support Contest’ from the 5th edition in 2002. Since then, it has continuously supported artists who are either from or currently active in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions.

Over the course of 22 festivals, a total of 90 award-winning artists have been selected, and these artists continue their creative activities actively in the domestic and international art scenes regardless of region.

Especially since the 21st festival, under the concept of ‘selection and concentration,’ the focus has intensified on discovering emerging artists while significantly strengthening creative support for the final award-winning artists. In addition to the existing prize money, each artist receives an additional creative support fund of 5 million KRW for their solo exhibitions held the year after winning.

Following the strengthened support, the solo exhibitions of artists Choi Jong-woon (21st Grand Prize) and Lee Da-hee (21st Emerging Artist Award), held for the first time last year, received very positive evaluations not only locally but also within and outside the art community for their content and composition.

Choi Jong-woon’s installation work, which filled the entire exhibition space with mysterious light, and Lee Da-hee’s record painting based on a music adaptation system provided a new experience to general visitors at the department store and are remembered as the most memorable exhibitions.

This enhanced support for award-winning artists’ solo exhibitions helped artists focus on their work while preparing for the exhibition, deepened exchanges between curators and artists preparing the exhibition together, and expanded opportunities for interaction with other art professionals.

Additionally, starting with eco-bags featuring works by last year’s award-winning artists, efforts to address environmental protection issues have been made through the production of art products such as reusable cups in collaboration with local artists.

Moreover, Shinsegae Gallery maintains close relationships with local art scenes through galleries operating in each region, continuously promoting cultural and artistic exchanges between regions through exhibitions like ‘Moonlight Prism: Young Artists from Gwangju and Daegu.’

They plan to continue strengthening networking among local artists by presenting various exhibitions and projects together with Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival award-winning artists.

Han Woo-jong, curator of Gwangju Shinsegae Gallery, said, “We will continue to seek ways to provide more practical support to artists in line with changes in the local art environment,” adding, “We will focus on strengthening networking between local culture and the art community, keeping the fundamental purpose of nurturing talent to lead regional culture.”