Busan Biennale 2016 has announced the Artistic Director
- Yun Cheagab, the current director of the How Art Museum in China
and a contemporary Asian art expert -
Director Yun Cheagab of the How Art Museum in China has been chosen as the artistic director for the Busan Biennale 2016 to be held in September 2016.
The Busan Biennale Organizing Committee (hereinafter referred to as the organizing committee) held a recommendation committee meeting last October and received eight candidate recommendations among curators who are active all around the world, regardless of their nationality and age. Afterwards the selection committee reduced the number of candidates to three and finally selected Director Yun as the artistic director of the Busan Biennale 2016 on November 11 after receiving approval from the organizing committee chairman.
Yun Cheagab, a contemporary Asian art expert who served as the commissioner for the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
Yun Cheagab who served as the executive director of Arario Gallery and the commissioner for the Korean Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale is a professional curator active on the world stage. Considered to be a leading curator who is most profoundly influential in Asia, Yun has worked on the front lines of contemporary art, especially in Asia, curating a multitude of exhibitions and projects. He earned a bachelor’s degree in art studies at Hongik University, completed a master’s course in Chinese art history at China Central Academy of Fine Arts in China and another master’s course in Indian art history at Tagore University in India. After that he worked as the co-director of Alternative Space Loop and the executive director of Arario Gallery in Seoul, Beijing, and New York from 2005 to 2010. He was chosen as the commissioner for the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2011. He has curated approximately 200 exhibitions at home and abroad since 2000. Since 2012 he has served as the first Korean director of the How Art Museum located in Wenzhou and Shanghai where he has been praised for opening a new prospect for hallyu, the Korean Wave, in the field of art.
Giving attention to Asia as a new contemporary art hub
The organizing committee regards Asia as a new contemporary art hub, taking Yun's selection as an opportunity to break away from the trends and conventions of Western art. Through such an example the committee expects to showcase the Busan Biennale’s distinctive identity.
The Busan Biennale 2016 will start in September 2016 at venues like the Busan Museum of Art. The state of its progress including information about the exhibitions will be regularly updated on the organizing committee’s homepage.