Starting September 7th, Gwangju City and the Institute of Design Promotion are welcoming the world to the 10th Gwangju Design Biennale 2023.
The 2023 Gwangju Design Biennale is the 10th such event taking place in South Korea’s historic southern city, Gwangju, and will be taking place from September 7th and running through until November 7th. The theme of this year’s event is <Meet Design> and the event promises to amaze, enlighten, and entertain those who attend. Thousands of innovative design exhibits will be displayed in key exhibition venues in Gwangju, including the dedicated Gwangju Biennale exhibition halls, the Gwangju City Art Museum, and other local sites. Further, to celebrate two decades since its birth in 2003, the 2023 Gwangju Design Biennale is being led by General Director, Ken Nah (professor, Hongik IDAS University, Red Dot jury member) who intends to highlight the impact of design on the global environment though showcased the multifaceted aspects and ubiquity of design through various special exhibitions and international conferences.
The main programs consist of the Main Exhibition, Special Exhibition, International Conference, Design Talks, Design interactive events, Export consultations with invited overseas buyers.
Main Exhibitions
There will be 4 sub-themes for the main exhibition: Design meets Technology, Lifestyle, Culture, and Business.
The Technology hall will showcase futuristic designs where cutting-edge technologies such as AI(artificial intelligence), robots, and smart tech meet design to create the future of our dreams. Participants include prominent designers and major companies such as LG, Renault Korea, KG Mobility, and Neuromeka.
The Lifestyle hall will highlight designs in things we often overlook in our daily life.
The Culture hall will introduce aspects of K-Culture and K-Design showcasing the synergy between culture and design.
And finally, the Business hall will showcase innovative designs of global companies such as Samsung Electronics and Dyson, which have achieved success through design management.
Special Exhibitions
There are also various special exhibitions being prepared for the event: The Gwangju Museum of Art will be presenting a variety of collaborative works made possible by the coordination between artists and designers based on materials collected from various forests such as Jongoe Park and more.
In the past, an international poster design invitational exhibition was held at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition hall involving 350 designers from 30 countries around the world. The Gwangju Institute of Design Promotion participated in the event which had the theme of “Design Nexus” (or Design Connection) with 200 designers and college students from Gwangju and Jeollanam-do to highlight present and future designs of the Honam region.
International Conference
The International conference will be held at the Biennale Hall 3 over the course of three days from September 7th to 9th. In attendance will be Red Dot CEO, Peter Zec; Chairperson of National Architecture Policy Committee, Young-gul Kwon; Professor of Tokai University in Japan, Nakajima Juri; Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology in the U.S., Eun-sook Kwon; Professor of Seoul National University, Nando Kim, and many others. The forum they will be participating in will involve discourse on the themes of design value, trend, and future.
Pop-Up Exhibition
Possibly most importantly, the GDB 2023 is preparing activities in which visitors can see, enjoy, and experience various designs. From July 19th to September 3rd, the 10th Gwangju Design Biennale pop-up exhibition is open to visitors at the Cultural Plaza on the first floor of the Shinsegae Department Store located in Gwangju. The theme of the pop-up exhibit is “Meet & Eat” designed by MOTOElastico (Simone Carena, Marco Bruno, Minji Kim, Giulia Nespoli). The work is inspired by the concept of Korean street food – “odeng”, “tokkotchi” and “kimbob” transformed into fashion icons. Each piece is entirely made out of recycled paper which highlights sustainability in the event scene.
The Gwangju Institute of Design Promotion welcomes anyone and everyone to come and cool off this summer at the GDB 2023 to celebrate the value and role of design for a ‘better’ life and a ‘better world.
Find out more information regarding the 2023 Gwangju Design Biennale here.
