The Nam June Paik Art Center opens to the public with its inaugural art festival
October 9, 2008 – February 5, 2009.
85 Sanggal-dong, Giheung-gu,
Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do
446-905
Republic of Korea
c.pestana [at] njpartcenter.kr
Supported by Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation and Gyeonggi Province, the Nam June Paik Art Center is located in Yongin, a city on the outskirts of Seoul. Discussed with the artist and under development since 2001, the NJP Art Center opened its permanent building in April 2008. Under the current director, Young Chul Lee, it aspires to reactivate the experimental and interventionist spirit of 20th century and contemporary art practices in order to become a locus where aesthetic, political and social potentialities contribute to questioning and redefining the relationships between art, philosophy, media and life.
The NJP Art Center’s practice is guided by the following principles:
• Emphasizing the complexities of creativity and its social and political significance
Dedicated to opening up layers and different facets of the current legacy of Nam June Paik, the NJP Art Center aims to recontextualize this artist’s work within the history of his own practice, that of Fluxus, and other trends from the 1960s, as well as the practices of new generations of artists. The Paik and Media Research Archive, and its growing collection, will offer access to Paik’s multifaceted practice, endeavoring to stimulate discourse on the diverse roles of past, current and future artistic practices.
• Investigating notions of curatorship, creativity, and critical discourse
Committed to generating interchange between its activities and an outside world, the NJP Art Center is eager to channel energy from engagement with international practices. The Curatorial Lab is intended as a process of exploring curatorial practice, reflecting on what constitutes curatorial professionalism and its potentialities through the development of exhibition programs that counteract the effect of overly conservative and either internationalizing or inward gazing institutions.
• Expanding the operational field of the NJP Art Center by questioning its institutional framework and the dynamic potentialities of artistic practices within it
Devoted to extending the results of experimental combinations of art, technologies and humanities further into society, the NJP Art Center seeks to work alongside local, national and international curators, academics, artists and the surrounding population. The Education and Public Program creates a platform for formulating and sharing theories and hypothesis on the critical issues underlying cultural production.
Website to be launched on September 1, 2008 – www.njpartcenter.kr
To find out more contact:
Nam June Paik Art Center
85 Sanggal-dong, Giheung-gu,
Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do
446-905
Republic of Korea
T: + 82 (0) 31 201 8543
F: + 82 (0) 31 201 8515
c.pestana@njpartcenter.kr
