Fever Variations 열풍 변주곡 熱風 變奏曲

The word ‘fever’ evokes a certain feeling of passion and enthusiasm, but also gestures towards those cultural tendencies which are in vogue and of the moment. Emphasizing the current phenomenon whereby Asia’s new energy for change and dynamic vision expand, spreading and disseminating in all directions, the 6th Gwangju Biennale intends to illuminate and re-interpret international contemporary art from the standpoint of Asia. The title “Fever Variations” reflects the cultural abundance of Asia and its multiple significances in the way they affect the world.

Asia is on the move. A fantasy of a New Asia is constructed from the current dynamism of Asia, Asia that refuses to be confined to a fixed identity and that energetically breaches boundaries with verve and flexibility. This is not an othered fantasy fabricated from a Western viewpoint but a subversive fantasy, emerging out of the collective unconscious as its substance and entity cannot be physically articulated.

This vision of Asia can be manifest as an Asian identity, and as a regional order vis-à-vis the international globalism. The Northeast Asian countries especially, which went through similar experiences of modernization and share common cultural foundations – Chinese characters, traditional Asian painting, Zen philosophy, Confucianism and naturalism – are propagating unfettered nationalism, open-minded localism and cultural coexistence, avoiding the mistake of turning their cultural and emotional collectivity into a closed, Asia-centric and past-oriented attitude. Furthermore, they are realizing a communal vision through the intercity network of cultural and material exchange and reciprocity that links Asian countries.

The city of Gwangju, aspiring to be an Asian cultural hub city, will function as a geographic metaphor illustrating Asia’s continuous change and dynamism. The dynamic relation between Gwangju and Asia – centrifugal and centripetal – is generated out of a narrative of ‘from here,’ whereby Gwangju reaches towards Asia and the world, and Asia and the world in turn gather in Gwangju. The Biennale consists of two comprehensive exhibitions that will visualize the effects of this origin narrative.

▌Exhibition Structure

The First Chapter_Trace Root : Unfolding Asian Stories
The First Chapter_Trace Root takes a diachronic standpoint tracing back to the root of the Asian sprit in the context of contemporary art culture. This exhibition intends to track the process and procedure of the modernization and globalization of Asian art, in pursuit of re-locating its position in the global context and deconstructing the dichotomy between Western and Eastern arts. The exhibition interprets the scope of Asian art beyond its regional and temporal definitions. Classic paintings by historical masters of the Northeast Asia and contemporary experimental paintings that blur the boundary between Eastern and Western styles will be presented. This exhibition will also highlight the spirit of Asia immanent in Western avant-garde art. It strives to understand the historical stages of contemporary art and even to foretell its future prospects, illuminating the flow of exchanges and mutual influences between West and East.

The Last Chapter_Trace Route : Remapping Global Cities
Taking Asian cities as its theme to capture the phenomenon of an Asia in process and on the move, The Last Chapter_Trace Route employs a synchronic method to network global simultaneity and concurrence, and trace their routes. Starting from Gwangju and Seoul in Korea, this exhibition will create connections with other Northeast Asian cities as well as cities from other continents with major Asian immigrant communities actively synthesizing regional culture with Asian heritage. This project, aiming not only for creativity but also for the generation of new discourses, plans to collaborate with various cultural institutions and the residency programs of alternative spaces in relevant cities with the goal of realizing a ‘Mobile Residency Program.’ The primary objective of the Biennale, which seeks a symbiosis with Gwangju city’s other cultural projects, actualizes through this project that thematizes CITY itself by stimulating alternative spaces that are both observers and symbiotic components of their cultures.

The Third Sector_Citizen Program : 1.4 Million Torches
This Citizen Program is designed as a scheme to link the Biennale to the citizens of Gwangju and the general public. This program accentuates the site-specificity of Gwangju while conceptually and practically joining to the two main exhibitions, The First Chapter_Trace Root and The Last Chapter_Trace Route. Diverse collaborative programs will be organized, in which Gwangju’s citizen will be directly involved in artistic and cultural education, promotion of the Biennale and other creative activities. Parallel to this program, a ‘Night Biennale’ will be promoted where people can enjoy various events of the Biennale into the late evening and night around the ‘Street of Art’ in the city center and along the nearby riverside. Also, a ‘Biennale art fair’ will be organized, which will broaden the scope of the Biennale’s audience to include domestic and international collectors, adding a significant economic component to the Biennale.


▌Workshop and Symposia

The 6th Gwangju Biennale 2006 will be accompanied by four international academic events that will take place before and during the Biennale period. These events will provide a forum where the concept and theme of the Biennale can be discussed and refined, issues of Asian discourses and aesthetics can be dealt in depth, and the role of the Gwangju Biennale can be evaluated in the broader context of international contemporary art.

● Curatorial Workshop : October 2005
● The 1st International Symposium (Asian Art Forum) : December 2005
● CAA (College Art Association) Conference : February 2006
● The 2nd International Symposium : October 2006