Madang: Where We Become Us
20th April — 24th November 2024
Il Giardino Bianco Art Space
Madang: Where We Become Us, a special commemorative archival exhibition marking the 30th anniversary of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, reflects on the biennale’s history and envisions its future. The Gwangju Biennale has evolved into Asia’s leading contemporary art biennale by intertwining the “spirit of Gwangju,” which embodies values such as revolution, democracy, and community, with the realm of art. This exhibition, comprised of archival materials accumulated over the years, works from the Gwangju Biennale Foundation collection, and additional works expanding its significance, does not merely seek to chronicle the biennale’s history; it has the overarching goal of proposing a perspective that contemplates the spirit of Gwangju through the gaps and scenes existing within materials and artworks, reestablishing the contemporary value of the Gwangju Biennale.
Madang Dialogues in Venice
“Do biennials weather?”
18th April 2024, 2 - 3:30pm
Thinking about the perennial events’ life cycles – their temporal and durational nature – we hope to explore how biennials around the world seek to be ‘in time’ with the present moment, yet by making references to the past and speculating on the future. Considering time through the metaphorical notion of weathering, this roundtable will bring together different perspectives on what it means to historicize and commemorate a biennial such as the Gwangju Biennale, and to discuss the relevance of biennials as a format, concept, and methodology.
PanelistAyoung Kim, ArtistDavide Quadrio, Director, MAO Asian Art Museum, Turin
Hans D. Christ, Director, Wuerttembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart
Joanne Kim, Independent curator
Nathalie Boseul Shin, Chief Curator, Total Museum of Contemporary Art
Sooyoung Leam, Independent curator & Art historian
Sylbee Kim, Artist
The roundtable discussion is conceived as a part of Madang Dialogues series, a year-long on/offline public program supported by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation. For more information, check our website: https://madang.gwangjubiennale.com/en
