Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning
April 1–May 9, 2021
Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning, the 13th edition of the Gwangju Biennale, opens on April 1, 2021 with 69 participating artists and collectives, and over 30 thinkers, poets, scientists and journalists. Directed by Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala, it encompasses an exhibition across four venues, with 40 new commissions; three publications, including a Feminism(s) reader: Stronger Than Bone and an online publishing platform Minds Rising; and a series of online public programs: GB Talks | Rising to the Surface: Practicing Solidarity Futures, Augmented Minds and the Incomputable, and a procession: Through the Gates.
The Artistic Directors of Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning, Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala, said: “With grit and perseverance, in the company of so many artists and thinkers, we are grateful to have manifested an expanded biennale programme addressing living processes—aesthetic, high-spirited, historically conscious and, as such, ever-more inclusive—one that is also shaped by the current global conditions of grief, alienation and systemic breakdown. With several new artistic works and visions that unleash vocabularies of resilience, dissent and renewal, we strive to understand past and future life forms, as well as aspects of organic and machinic intelligence shaped by feminist knowledge and pursuant of racial justice. Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning assembles and channels these modes of spherical thinking towards a world ethic that is socially and ecologically desirable, despite the pervasive tentacles of militarism and authoritarianism globally. Safeguarding this journey with everyday attention to the process has been an uphill challenge, but also a privilege and an honour.”
Full details can be found here.
Participating artists (* denotes new commissions)
∞OS (Dmitry Paranyushkin and Koo Des)*, Pacita Abad, Korakrit Arunanondchai*, Katarina Barruk*, Farid Belkahia, Cecilia Bengolea, Seyni Camara*, Quishile Charan & Esha Pillay (aka The Bad Fiji Gyals), Yin-Ju Chen & Li-Chun Lin (Marina)*, Ali Cherri, Hyun-taek Cho*, Vaginal Davis*, Cian Dayrit*, Emo de Medeiros, Patricia Domínguez, Theo Eshetu*, Gerard Fortuné, John Gerrard, Sonia Gomes, Trajal Harrell*, Femke Herregraven*, Lynn Hershman Leeson*, Tishan Hsu, Gözde Ilkin*, Jeong Kwan, Jumaadi, Karrabing Film Collective*, Sangdon Kim*, Sylbee Kim*, Timoteus Anggawan Kusno*, Duck-Jun Kwak, Gap-chul Lee, Kangseung Lee*, Sangho Lee, Liliane Lijn, Candice Lin*, Vivian Lynn, Abu Bakarr Mansaray, Angela Melitopoulos*, Ana María Millán*, Min Joung-Ki*, Ad Minoliti*, Kyungwon Moon*, MOON & JEON, Siyabonga Mthembu*, nasa4nasa*, Pedro Neves Marques, Kira Nova*, Fernando Palma Rodríguez*, People’s Archive of Rural India – PARI, Rajni Perera*, Outi Pieski*, Angelo Plessas*, Gala Porras-Kim*, Ana Prvački*, Judy Radul*, Sahej Rahal*, Zofia Rydet, Jacolby Satterwhite, Arpita Singh, Tcheu Siong, Chrysanne Stathacos*, Alexandra Sukhareva, Shannon Te Ao, Sissel Tolaas*, Cecilia Vicuña*, Ouattara Watts, Shen Xin*, Tuguldur Yondonjamts*
Augmented readings by Manduhai Buyandelger, Kate Crawford & Vladan Joler, Lynn Margulis & Dorion Sagan, Vladan Joler & Matteo Pasquinelli, Sun Yung Shin, Kawaguchi Shinnin & Aoki Shukuya, Rafael Yuste, and Zeitguised.
Partnership with historical collections
Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning partners with the Gwangju National Museum, The Museum of Shamanism and The Gahoe Minhwa Museum in Seoul, showing artefacts from the collections of both; and facsimiles from the Wellcome Collection, London.
Venues
Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall, Gwangju National Museum, Gwangju Theater, Yangnim mountain - Horanggasy Artpolygon; and online on social media channels and the Biennale website.
Online and print journal
The online editorial platform of the Biennale, Minds Rising, serves as an ensemble of the research process. Contributors include Edna Bonhomme, Travis Jeppessen, Yuk Hui, Yani Yoo, and Catherine Malabou, and it is available in print on April 1, 2021. Edited by Defne Ayas, Natasha Ginwala, and Young-jun Tak. Designed by Studio Remco van Bladel. Published by: Gwangju Biennale Foundation. ISBN 979-11-957933-5-8
Through the Gates
Composed of live commissions and exhibited works, this adaptive procession of initiations tests the boundaries of resilience and resistance and inverts notions of the living and the dead, the live and the inanimate, “awakening” the works on view and rendering the exhibition a ceremonial ground where the communal mind plays a revitalising role.
During the same period as the 13th Gwangju Biennale, Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning, the following exhibitions will also be taking place: the Gwangju Biennale Commission (GB Commission) which seeks to explore the history, architectural artifacts, traditions, memories and civil spirit of the city of Gwangju and the origin of the Gwangju Biennale; the Pavilion Project which hosts leading international art institutions connecting the Gwangju region to a wider international arts community; and MaytoDay, the May 18 Democratization Movement Special Exhibition.
Media contacts
National press contact: Elisa Lee, elisa.lee [at] gwangjubiennale.org
International press contact: Sam Talbot, sam [at] sam-talbot.com
