Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2020 Seeks Creative Ways to Safely Open during Pandemic
With the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the nation, attention is turning to the fate of the Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2020. The event will go on as scheduled from September 17th to November 1st at Seongsan Art Hall and Yongji Park (Pojeongsa) under the theme “Non-Sculpture: Light or Flexible.” The 46-day Biennale is expected to feature the works of over 90 artists from over 30 countries, with the help of no-contact and online services.
Organizers of several Korean biennales slated for this year have announced delays or cancellations of their exhibitions. Sung-ho Kim, Artistic Director of the Changwon Sculpture Biennale, explained the steering committee’s decision to proceed with the planned event stating, “It is hard to predict the end of COVID-19. We thought temporarily postponing the scheduled show cannot be a fundamental solution in the mid-to-long term. The committee felt the strong need to prepare for the future, especially with the Biennale standing at an important juncture this year to celebrate the 10-year history since its inception. At the same time, we could not overlook our responsibility to find new and creative ways to make art and cultural content accessible in the post COVID-19 era.”
The Changwon Sculpture Biennale will leverage online platforms to break through the limitations of physical locations and reach a wider audience with its thoroughly designed programs. Originally, the organizers had planned to invite participating artists, commissioners, and experts from home and abroad to various events including the international conference for an offline, engaging experience. In a swift shift to online services, meticulous preparations are well underway for a pre-recorded opening ceremony and conferences, attentive logistics arrangements for the works coming from overseas, accurate translation and interpretation of messaging, electronic versions of communication materials including a leaflet and a guidebook, a recorded audio guide by Biennale Honorary Ambassador and actor Seon-Kyu JIN, and virtual reality tours for online visitors. These services will provide easy access to the Biennale collections and ensure the safety of visitors.
“We are working to make our programs more accessible to the public by going on and offline in parallel, in an effort to turn this crisis in the art and cultural industry into an opportunity to make another leap forward. It will be a meaningful experiment to find and present innovative ways to deliver a Biennale experience and propose new ways to enjoy art and culture at times of a crisis,” said Kim.
