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| A poster for "Busan Biennale: Words at an Exhibition The Chicago Chapter" / Courtesy of Busan Biennal |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The 2020 edition of Busan Biennale, which garnered positive reviews for interweaving visual art with literary elements, heads to Chicago for a year-long project with artists, musicians and writers.
Organized by Danish artistic director Jacob Fabricius, the 10th edition of Busan Biennale was titled "Words at an Exhibition ― an exhibition in ten chapters and five poems." Fabricus invited 11 authors, 67 visual artists and 11 musicians from 34 countries to unravel the port city's charms in the context of metropolitanism.
Busan Biennale partnered with the University of Chicago's Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry and the Center for East Asian Studies Committee on Korean Studies to present "The Chicago Chapter" of the biennale.
Fabricius and Chicago-based curator and art critic Stephanie Cristello, who served as curatorial adviser at the Busan Biennale 2020, bring artists and art from the Busan event to reimagine the biennale for Chicago audiences with an emphasis on sound art and music.
"I am proud and very excited about bringing the Busan Biennale 2020 to an international audience. The first stop was Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark, and now in 2021 it will be Chicago, U.S. I believe showing Busan-based artists like Bae Ji-min in an international context is of great importance to the art scene in Busan and Korea. Busan Biennale 2020 ― The Chicago Chapter aims to present both artists, musicians and writers from Busan and Korea," Fabricus said.
"Despite our success, COVID-19 meant many were unable to experience the biennale in person. I'm honored that the Chicago Chapter will cultivate a wider audience for the work that was done here in Busan," the biennale's exhibition team leader Lee Seol-hui said.
The Chicago Chapter will begin with an online public conversation event on March 5, featuring Fabricius and Cristello as well as artist-musician Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Korean artist Kim Hee-cheon. Gordon presented the film installation "July 24, 2020," created in collaboration with the exhibition team in Busan, while Kim interpreted the city's history and urban issues in his site-specific works such as an outdoor banner titled "A Drill" in Busan's Old Town.
Further events will be announced later.
"The Gray Center is thrilled to be working with our partners from the biennale to bring this multi-faceted and dynamic project to Chicago. The Busan Biennale's interdisciplinary approach makes it a kindred spirit to our organization and the international dialogue it will help cultivate is a perfect fit for our programmatic approach as we all work to support the arts and stay connected during the pandemic," said Zachary Cahill, director of programs and fellowships at the Gray Center.
This is the Busan Biennale 2020's second collaborative project, following "An Exhibition in Three Chapters: Works from the Busan Biennale by Carey Young, Kim Gordon & Jang Minseung" at the Kunsthal Aarhus in Denmark, home of artistic director Fabricius.
At the Danish exhibition, three video works by Carey Young, Kim Gordon and Jang Min-seung representing the biennale's topics such as gender, historical trauma and urban spaces are on display through March 14.
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