Course dates:
August 13–September 8, 2012
Application submission:
April 24–May 15, 2012
Host: Gwangju Biennale Foundation & Gwangju Metropolitan City
Principal: Yongwoo Lee (President, Gwangju Biennale Foundation)
Visiting Professors: Jens Hoffmann (Director of Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, 2011 Istanbul Biennale Co-Director) and Carol Yinghua Lu (2012 Gwangju Biennale Co-artistic Director)
Faculty Members: The 9th Gwangju Biennale Co-Artistic Directors (Nancy Adajania, Wassan Al-Khudhairi, Mami Kataoka, Sunjung Kim, Carol Yinghua Lu, Alia Swastika) and the 5th Gwangju Design Biennale Artistic Director (Younghye Lee)
The Gwangju Biennale is pleased to announce Jens Hoffmann and Carol Yinghua Lu as Visiting Professors of the 2012 GBICC.
Jens Hoffmann is a prominent curator whose practice centers on the attempt to expand the denotation and context of exhibition making. Currently he is the Director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art in San Francisco after working as the Director of Institute of Contemporary Arts London. He has co-curated the 2011 Istanbul Biennale and the 2009 San Juan Triennial.
Carol Yinghua Lu is a 2012 Gwangju Biennale Co-Artistic Director, independent curator, and critic based in Beijing. She is a contributing editor for Frieze and editor as well as co-founder of Contemporary Art & Investment. She is also a 2012 Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale curator and juried for the 2011 Venice Biennale Golden Lion Award.
Since its inception in 2009, the course has been recognized as a platform for open discussions on curatorial practices and theoretical discourses of contemporary art with special emphasis on the strategic and aesthetic approaches of biennales. In addition, as the program provides a unique opportunity to work closely with the biennale’s co-artistic directors, visiting curators and participating artists, it is quickly turning into a gathering hub for young curators from all over the world. This year, under the main topic, “Biennale as Social Media,” the course will focus on in-depth discussions of the cultural and aesthetic politics of international biennales, which has been on a steep rise since the 1990s.
GBICC has been privileged to have eminent scholars, critics, curators and artists as lecturers for the course in the past including Ai Weiwei, Massimiliano Gioni, and Yuko Hasegawa, among others. This year, Jens Hoffmann and Carol Yinghua Lu will lead the program, supported by lectures and discussions with the 2012 Gwangju Biennale Co-Artistic Directors and the 5th Gwangju Design Biennale Artistic Director. Additional guest lecturers will also supplement the program with their rich experiences and activities in the arts.
In the course of the program, the participants will take part in the preparation of the 2012 Gwangju Biennale under the supervision of the co-artistic directors. During the final week, participants will be asked to make a group presentation. Visits to museums, galleries, and artists’ studios in Gwangju and Seoul are also scheduled.
The Biennale will grant tuition and accommodations to all participants during the entire course. However, participants will be responsible for their round-trip airfares and living expenses during their stay. This course is designed for young curators to receive in-depth training. Thus the age restriction has been set to 35 and under. The entire course will be conducted in English.
Application Submission
Application Submission deadline: May 15, 2012
Application requirements:
All documents should be written in English.
Application must include:
Application form (downloadable from www.gb.or.kr)
CV
Motivational statement explaining the applicant’s interests and the purpose for applying (1,000 words max.)
Supporting materials: One or two copies of the most relevant published materials for curatorial/ exhibition related projects that the applicant participated in
Submitted documents and/or materials will not be returned.
Submission via email ([email protected])
Notification: Successful candidates will be contacted around mid-June, 2012.