2024 Busan Biennale Opens on August 17

August 17 to October 20, Exhibition Theme Selected as 'Seeing in the Dark'

Opening in August, Busan's Symbolic Summer... Adjusting to Attract Cultural Arts City and Family Visitors

Busan Museum of Modern Art, Modern History Museum, Choryang,

Busan City will hold the '2024 Busan Biennale' from August 17 to October 20, lasting 65 days.

The exhibition hall at Pier 1, North Port, 2022 Busan Biennale.

The 'Busan Biennale' is co-hosted every two years by the city and the Busan Biennale Organizing Committee (Chairman Park Hyung-jun, Mayor of Busan).

This event, under the exhibition theme 'Seeing in the Dark,' will be held in August for the first time ever. The opening schedule was adjusted to enhance Busan’s image as a cultural and artistic city during the summer, which symbolizes the city, and to actively attract family visitors during the school vacation period.

The 'Busan Biennale' began in 1981 as the 'Busan Youth Biennale,' changed to its current name with the establishment of a corporation in 2000, and has traditionally opened in September.

By moving the opening two weeks earlier this time, visitors will have a great opportunity to fully enjoy Busan’s natural environment, especially the sea, and immerse themselves in the sea of art and culture.

The city and the organizing committee have finalized the exhibition theme and are accelerating preparations such as selecting participating artists and works. The exhibition will be led by co-artistic directors Vera Mey and Philippe Pirotte.

The exhibition theme 'Seeing in the Dark' proposes reimagining humanity’s position within today’s 'darkness,' symbolizing a new perspective on contemporary times.

Behind this theme is the introduction of concepts such as the 'pirate utopia,' an early form of autonomous anarchic society, and the Buddhist concept of 'doryang,' a secluded space operating apart from the secular world. The planning intention reflects exploring various spiritual worlds and cultures, including these two concepts as a community society making decisions through a council and a space of liberation, and reimagining the spaces and worlds demanded by the era.

This exhibition plans to utilize exhibition venues in the old downtown area, including the dedicated 'Busan Museum of Contemporary Art' and the 'Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum.'

The Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum is located in the former Busan branch of the Bank of Korea and attracted attention as part of the exhibition venues for the Busan Biennale in 2018 and 2020.

In particular, it retains old heritage such as the underground vault iron bars, double iron doors, and locking devices, and will newly reopen in December 2023, adding special synergy to this exhibition.

Additionally, new exhibition spaces reflecting exhibition planning will be discovered and utilized in various areas of Busan’s old downtown, such as Choryang, Jungang-dong, and Daecheong-dong.

This exhibition also prepares linked programs to expand exchanges of locality through collaboration with local and overseas cultural and artistic organizations, exhibition planners, and participating artists. Based on the exhibition theme and planning intention, various collaborative programs combining different genres such as 'Pirate Panel,' 'Pirate Carnival,' and 'Sound Project' will be arranged.

The 'Pirate Panel' starts from the article 'Another Art World' by Nika Dubrovsky & David Rolfe Graeber and deals with keywords such as the relationship between reality and illusion, the embodiment of 'piracy' and deception, and pirate utopia.

The 'Pirate Carnival' is an event where partner organizations, participating artists, and visitors come together. It will be organized as a festival space where existing values or worldviews are overturned, including lectures, sound performances, and costumes. Inside the exhibition hall, a sound station serving as a sound archive, a DJ table, and a sound system for performances will be provided, operating listening sessions and online pop-up live radio as well.

Other linked programs such as 'Unmasking the Portal' and 'Sustainability Project' will be composed to satisfy visitors’ audiovisual senses, address contemporary issues, and invite them into spaces full of new imagination and possibilities beyond existing thought frameworks.

The 'Busan Biennale' was recognized as a 'well-made exhibition' in 2022 for its stable exhibition operation and solid planning capabilities. Domestically, it received a first-grade rating in the biennale government evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Arts Management Support Center, and was introduced as one of the world’s top 10 exhibitions by the UK art magazine 'Frieze.'

Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “The foundation of a global hub city cannot exclude the cultural environment, and we will spare no support to ensure that the Busan Biennale establishes itself as a world-class exhibition representing Korea.”

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