2016 Gwangju Biennale not spectacular but thoughtful

Celine Condorelli's "On the Right and on the Left (Without Glasses)" is on display at the 2016 Gwangju Biennale. Courtesy of Gwangju Biennale

Maria Lind, 2016 Gwangju Biennale artistic director

By Kwon Mee-yoo

GWANGJU ― People might expect large installations and visual spectacles at contemporary art biennales, but some of organizers take the opposite approach, and the 11th Gwangju Biennale (GB11) has fresh food for thought instead of eye-catching attractions.

Titled "The Eighth Climate (What does art do?)," GB11 employs emptiness and imagination instead of spectacle to unleash contemplation on contemporary art.

GB11's artistic director Maria Lind from Sweden re-imagined Asia's largest contemporary art festival based on a kaleidoscopic nature.

Dora Garcia's reconstruction of "Nokdu Bookstore" / Courtesy of Gwangju Biennale

"I am not particularly interested in spectacle for the sake of spectacle," Lind said during the press conference for GB11, Thursday. "If I engage with it, it has to be smarter than a normal spectacle."

The spectacle Lind prepared for GB11 could look plain at first sight, but it creates a kaleidoscopic world of diversity and complexity coming from an inner spectacle. Different encounters with artwork may be meditative, but they can be more confrontational.

The title eighth climate is a notion borrowed from the 12th century Persian philosopher Sohravardi and modern French philosopher Henry Corbin, Lind said. "It indicates an inter-world, a zone between material and material and a sphere full of imagination. The way they imagined this zone is similar to contemporary art ― not about what art is but what it does," Lind said.

Gunilla Klingberg's "Lunar Cycle," "Bamboo-Curtain" and "Sun-Prints" installed at Uijae Museum of Korean Art on Mudeungsan Mountain in Gwangju

Lind created her team for GB11, led by curator Choi Binna and assistant curators Azar Mahmoudian, Margarida Mendes and Michelle Wong. When asked why she had the all-woman team, Lind simply said "Because they are the best and women are the future."

As an attempt to reinforce stronger connections to the city, Lind invited artists to come and visit Gwangju ahead of the festival instead of just commissioning them to create works of art. As a result, 25 artists among the total 120 from 37 countries produced works related to the city's history, such as the political turmoil that peaked during the 1980 Gwangju Uprising.

An installation view of the Gallery 1 at the 2016 Gwangju Biennale / Courtesy of Gwangju Biennale

Not-to-miss artwork

The 66-day contemporary art festival kicked off Friday. There are over 250 pieces on display throughout the main exhibition hall and other locations in Gwangju and it would take at least a full day to appreciate all of them.

The artistic director picked a handful of works that resonate well with the biennale's theme of seeking the role of art in society covering a variety of themes from the environment, labor, human rights and politics. "Each artwork has its reverberations depending on where, when and how it is presented," Lind said.

Upon passing through colorful chain curtains to enter the biennale's exhibition hall, which is Ruth Buchanan's "Split, Splits, Splitting," visitors encounter a replica of a bookstore.

Spanish artist Dora Garcia's installation "Nokdu Bookstore for the Living and the Dead" is an example of how an artist feels, engages and unravels history into art. The Nokdu Bookstore was a gathering place during the Gwangju Uprising in 1980 and Garcia re-created the community bookstore in Gallery 1, filled with donated books. Lind elaborated that Garcia wanted the bookstore to live beyond being just a monument of the uprising.

Gallery 2 is darkened to mainly feature artwork using light ― moving images, still projections and light installations.

"You can watch videos without being isolated in a black box. It is about navigation and it creates a dynamic viewing experience from multiple viewpoints, at the same time with other people," Lind said.

Korean artist Jung Eun-young's video "Act of Effect" questions traditional gender roles by exploring the long-forgotten style of female-only theater, while Jun So-jung's "The Habit of Art" discovers the raison d'etre of art in everyday life.

Works related to labor issues are on view in Gallery 3. Julia Sarisetiati's "Indo K-Work" is based on the artist's research on Indonesian migrant workers in Korea

New York-based artist Doug Ashford presents a set of photos featuring people holding a green canvas at politically important places in Korea in "Photographs of Paintings Carried to Places where the Movement for Democracy in South Korea Happened, and Four Examples of what was Produced" in Gallery 4. The artwork presents Ashford's way of combining politics and aesthetics in historical context.

Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz's video works "Toxic," "Opaque" and "To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation" are screened in Gallery 5.

Art galore throughout the city

Lind wanted people to engage with art in many different ways through this biennale and she expanded the exhibit from the main exhibition hall in eastern Gwangju to eight other venues in the city from a roundabout in front of the station to art museums in mountains.

Architect Apolonija Sustersic joined hands with Bae Da-ri to create a community-based collaboration project, "Master Plan for Duamdong" at a neighborhood in northern Gwangju. The result of the project seeking performative ways of urban planning is on display at Nuribom Community Center in Duam-dong, Gwangju.

At the 5.18 Archives commemorating the Gwangju Uprising, three artist teams, Cooperativa Crater Invertido, Christian Nyampeta, and Jasmina Metwaly & Philip Rizk present their works inspired by the significant event, giving it a contemporary context.

At the Daein Market, Michael Beutler opened "Daein Sausage Shop" where the artist makes sausages from recycled paper.

Three museums in the Mudeungsan Mountain area are also featuring artists as part of the biennale ― Gunilla Klingberg at the Uijae Museum of Korean Art, Bernd Krauss at the Mudeung Museum of Contemporary Art and Saskia Noor van Imhoff at the Woo Jaeghil Art Museum.

At the Asia Culture Center, Christopher Kulendran Thomas's project "New Eelam" is on view. Eyal Weizman's site-specific installation "The Roundabout Revolution" near Gwangju Station is also not to be missed.

GB11 runs through Nov. 6 at various venues in Gwangju. Admission is 11,000 won in advance and 14,000 won at the door for adults. For more information, visit www.gwangjubiennale.org or call 062-608-4114.