Application period: December 5–13, 2022
–Proposals for Sea Art Festival 2023 artistic director open call to be accepted through December 13.
–Hopes for future-oriented exhibition models that elicit civic engagement and show understanding of Sea Art Festival’s local and experimental nature.
–Second straight event taking place at Ilgwang Beach in Gijang, South Korea, with potential for linkages with other exhibition settings nearby.
The Sea Art Festival 2023, which is co-organized by Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Biennale Organizing Committee, is launching its process to select an artistic director. Lasting five days longer than last year’s, the open call period will continue for 30 days from November 14 to December 13. Applications may be submitted by email (busanbiennale [at] busanbiennale.org) over a nine-day period from December 5 to 13.
Since 2021, the Busan Biennale Organizing Committee has used an international open call format to select artistic directors as a way of discovering innovative programmers working in South Korea and abroad and contributing to the event’s growth as an international brand. The Sea Art Festival 2021 had a major impact at home and overseas with the selection of Ritika Biswas, an Indian female curator who was 26 at the time (born in 1995). Taking place at Ilgwang Beach for the first time, the event was praised for its high level of accomplishment and the various experiments it presented, including nighttime exhibitions.
The artistic director for the Sea Art Festival 2023 is to be a single individual or team of curators from South Korea and/or overseas. Applicants must be able to present a new, future-oriented exhibition approach based on understanding of the Sea Art Festival’s experimental nature and historical significance, along with consideration for the history, culture, and local specificity of Busan. They should also possess expertise in contemporary art, original and experimental programming capabilities with the potential to engage audiences, and the ability to design spaces that incorporate the seaside and other locations. The Organizing Committee also looks forward to a Sea Art Festival that spotlights emerging and other artists from the Busan area, while offering opportunities for visitors and members of the public to take part and enjoy themselves in diverse ways.
As with the preceding 2021 event, the Sea Art Festival 2023 will be taking place around Ilgwang Beach in Gijang County during the month of October. To allow for a broad scope of exhibition concepts and designs, applicants are also free to propose other nearby locations that are connected with Ilgwang Beach.
For inquiries, please visit the Busan Biennale Organizing Committee’s official website or send an email.
Originating with a 1987 cultural event ahead of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the Sea Art Festival boasts a unique exhibition format set against the backdrop of Busan’s natural environment. Popular among viewers from South Korea and overseas, it has been held every other year since 2011 (during years when the Busan Biennale is not being held).
