Biennale

The “2006 Busan Biennale” will be held from September 16 to November 25, a total of 71 days. The Busan Biennale is a continuation of the former Busan International Art Festival, which started in 2002.

Under the theme “Everywhere,” there will be 254 pieces from 39 countries on display, categorized into the Contemporary Art Exhibit, Ocean Festival, or the Busan Sculpture Project. The core of the event is the cutting edge technology used for the Contemporary Art and public art projects. The popular Busan Sculpture Project finished at the end of August.

Park Min-woo supervised the Contemporary Art Exhibit as the curator, and for the Ocean Festival, Ryo Byung-hak was the curator.

The Contemporary Art Exhibit was titled, “A Tale of Two Cities: Busan-Seoul/Seoul-Busan” and opened simultaneously in five locales, including the Busan Museum of Art. On display are 134 pieces from 38 nations that express the centralization of cities, and the domination of major cities over local districts.

There will be “The Quest” by a Belgium artist, “Yodogawa Technique” from a Japan artist who observed Busan staying around Nakdong River for a month, and projects by a young public artist from Mexico, and 20 video art pieces from Australia airing on Busan cable television.

The Ocean Art Festival is a public event that celebrates the theme “Art in Life.” It strives to close the gap between the general public and art by turning ordinary furniture like mailboxes, streetlamps, benches and public phones into art pieces.

A ball on the beach by Yoon-hee and a road project by Kim Taek-sang who turned a beach into three colors will be on the exhibition, just some of the 100 pieces from 14 countries. Tickets for the Busan Biennale range from 2,000 to 15,000 won, according to age. Visit www.busanbiennale.org for more information.

heo@donga.com