South Korea will welcome an eventful cultural season with several biennales. Following the renowned Gwangju Biennale (already in its ninth year) was the mid-September opening of Media City Seoul, an international biennale devoted to new media, as well as the Busan Biennale of contemporary art. For photography there’s Daegu, the country’s third largest city, just under 250km from Seoul.
The 4th edition of the Daegu Photo Biennale opened on September 20. With the title ‘Photographic!’, this year’s biennale is dedicated to 21st century photography culture.
The festival is comprised of five main exhibitions:
– Photography is Magic ! by Charlotte Cotton
– Repositioned Personal by Karen Irvine
– The Youth Code by Nathalie Herschdorfer
– Dance on a Thin Line by Fumihiko Sumitomo
– The Science of Photography by Young June Lee
In addition to these exhibitions are two projects devoted to Korean photography, specifically in relation to Daegu: How a City Works by Young Sil Sohn and Old Photos from Daegu. Two retrospectives round out the program: one devoted to Marc Riboud, the other to Jan Saudek.
In addition to the exhibitions bringing together 300 photographers from around the world, the Daegu Photo Biennale has organized a weekend of lectures and a symposium. Guests from Europe, North America and Asia were present this weekend of the opening festivities ot this Asian festival with international ambitions.
Nathalie Herschdorfer
Daegu Biennale
September 20 – October 28, 2012
Daegu
South Korea
