Gwangju City Launches '2025 Design Biennale' Marking Its 20th Anniversary

Full-Scale Event Planning Including Topic Selection and Master Plan Development

On the morning of the 28th, Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung met with Choi Soo-shin, the General Director of the 2025 Design Biennale, in the city hall reception room to discuss the establishment of a new model for the Gwangju Design Biennale scheduled to be held in September next year. Photo by Gwangju City

Gwangju City has begun full-scale preparations for the ‘Gwangju Design Biennale,’ scheduled to open in September next year. Marking its 20th anniversary, the event plans to establish a new design biennale model that integrates future design trends, evolving societal demands, and the fusion of design, art, and industry.

On the 28th, Gwangju City announced that it appointed Professor Choi Soo-shin of SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) in the United States as the general director of the ‘2025 Gwangju Design Biennale’ on the 7th, and has been intensifying event planning such as theme selection and master plan development together with the general director.

The city plans to expand cooperation with major domestic and international design experts, academia, and industry stakeholders, while strengthening participatory programs that inspire citizens and designers.

To this end, the Gwangju Design Biennale Foundation will take over the role previously managed by the Gwangju Design Promotion Agency. The Gwangju Design Promotion Agency will focus on the public design sector, while the foundation will strengthen its role as a specialized biennale institution.

Professor Choi Soo-shin, the general director who will oversee the ‘2025 Gwangju Design Biennale,’ is a design expert who served as vice president of CCS (College for Creative Studies) in the United States, one of the world’s top three automotive design schools, and acted as chair of the 2016 IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) international conference. Since 2014, he has led the Detroit Design Festival in the U.S. for four consecutive years, demonstrating his capability to manage international events based on a rich overseas design network.

General Director Choi Soo-shin said, “A design biennale that ends with ‘the design looks pretty’ has no meaning. We will present a design biennale that resonates in the hearts of visitors and impacts their lives. Inclusive design will change the common thoughts and feelings people have and make them realize the possibility of an inclusive ‘we.’ We are preparing an engaging exhibition that embodies these values.”

Mayor Kang Ki-jung expressed, “I look forward to a design biennale that harmonizes with Gwangju’s aspiration to be an inclusive city. I hope it will present new design discourses reflecting Gwangju’s identity as an Asian cultural hub and a leading AI city, and evolve into a sustainable design biennale that solves urban problems.”

Meanwhile, the ‘2025 Gwangju Design Biennale’ is scheduled to be held for about two months starting from September next year at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall and other venues.

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