Busan Biennale
The Busan Biennale is a biannual international contemporary art show that integrated three different art events held in the city in 1998: the Busan Youth Biennale, the first biennale of Korea that was voluntarily organized by local artists in 1981; the Sea Art Festival, an environmental art festival launched in 1987 with the sea serving as a backdrop; and the Busan International Outdoor Sculpture Symposium that was first held in 1991. The biennale was previously called the Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival (PICAF) before it launched.
The biennale has its own unique attribute in that it was formed not out of any political logic or need but rather the pure force of local Busan artists’ will and their voluntary participation. Even to this day their interest in Busan's culture and its experimental nature has been the key foundation for shaping the biennale’s identity.
This biennale is the only one like it in the world that was established through an integration of three types of art events such as a Contemporary Art Exhibition, Sculpture Symposium, and Sea Art Festival. The Sculpture Symposium in particular was deemed to be a successful public art event, the results of which were installed throughout the city and dedicated to revitalizing cultural communication with citizens. The networks formed through the event have assumed a crucial role in introducing and expanding domestic art overseas and leading the development of local culture for globalized cultural communication. Founded 38 years ago, the biennale aims to popularize contemporary art and achieve art in everyday life by providing a platform for interchanging experimental contemporary art.
Dina Nomena Andriarimanjaka
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BB2024 2024-12-02 10:45
Mères de l’Imerina, 2023, collage of textile, 94x114cm.
Les Invisibles, 2023, collage of textile, 150x295cm.
Au Dessus des Milles, 2023, collage of textile and paper, 100x95cm.
La Bien-Aimée, 2023, collage of textile, 102x95cm.
Traces de mémoire, 2023, textile and photos in glass photo frames, dimension variable.
Dina Nomena Andriarimanjaka presents parts of À la recherche des Betia (2023), the artist's series researching and reimagining the little known stories of Malagasy female sovereigns, queens and princesses. Through collaged and annotated appropriated photographs, archive images, letters, book extracts, and embroidered textile, wall cloth and wall tapestry, she mobilises these key Malagasy female figures ignored in the collective memory, including Betia (1735-1805), queen of the Betsimisaraka (meaning ‘Inseparable Multitude’) Kingdom; Rafohy (reign fl. 1520-1530) and Rangita (reign fl. 1530-1540), the female founders of the Merina Royalty; and Binao Andriamanjakamboniarivo (1880 -1923), queen of the Sakalava Bemihisatra. The Betsimisaraka kingdom was allegedly founded by these indigenous queens and princesses solidarising with sailors, pirates, and captives from other regions, and formed at the basis of the legend of Libertalia, a society in which people of all colours, creeds, and beliefs were to be free of any scrutiny. Andriarimanjaka initiates a reflection on ‘female power’ and questions the chronology, space and identity of these prominent but forgotten figures. Through the media of collage, sewing and embroidery – which are repetitive practices activating the memory of gestures – she works out a new memory. The fabrics used symbolises femininity, intimacy (personal garments) and public representation (royal and drapery fabrics). By linking her works together by threads, the artist underscores the intimate networks that enable the reactivation of memories and the construction of knowledge.
