Under the theme “The Clue”, the Gwangju Design Biennale will open its 3rd edition on September 18th 2009 in the metropolitan city of Gwangju, South Korea (till November 4). The 3rd Gwangju Design Biennale sets out to reevaluate the truism “think globally and act locally” by examining five examples of traditional culture of Korea.
These examples will be used to bring the potentialities of very specific local solutions to the fore and reconfigure them in an international design context: Perfect design is enacted in clothing, eating, living, enlightening and enjoying. Because these five human actions form the basis of a complete and harmonious life across all cultures, they are also themes in which designers, who want to improve that life, may search for clues. The extraordinary resources, objects and values upon which Korean culture thrives serve as a starting point for international designers and artists in their creation of new design concepts.
The five themes of ‘Clothing’, ‘Eating’, ’Living’, ‘Enlightening’ and ‘Enjoying’ are expressed with the Korean words of 'Ot’, ‘Mat’, ‘Jip', ‘Geul’ and ‘Sori'. The curators of each theme exhibition try to pinpoint their relevance to specific culture and design. 'Clothing' is stratified into subjects: from the significance of traditional costume, to haute couture, to the garment as a work of art. Form uplifts function in 'Eating', where the symbolic color of food and the ceremonial table setting are reinterpreted. The organic spaces of the theme 'Living' offer elemental architectural inspiration. The themes 'Enlightening' and 'Enjoying' examine Korea's unprecedented specializations in the fields of graphic design and music. Each of the five themes will be filtered and interpreted through a set of responses by international artists and designers, who will create specific works in reaction to the Korean tradition, thus taking the potentialities of Korean design culture to a global level.
Three expanded projects cross section the five culturally located themes. 'Design to Save', 'Design to Care' and 'Design to Share,' proactively address major topics of global contemporary design such as sustainability, Universal Design and social engagement. Many of these projects utilize the citizens, economy and site of Gwangju with global enterprise.
Artistic director is Byungsoo Eun.