Looking Forward to a Life of Design in Gwangju
— As Good As It Will Get Going Forward

By Nam Ho-jung, Assistant Professor, College of Arts

  Gwangju has been a historically renowned city of culture and art. The third edition of the Gwangju Design Biennale, which opens this year, has paved the way for developing Gwangju as a cultural mecca, along with the Gwangju Biennale, which has been held to promote the city’s status as an artistic hub since its inception in 1995. On top of that, the city of Gwangju has designated “promoting design business” as its key project to carry out down the road. In accordance with this move, the city is also working toward building infrastructure of a cultural capital in order to position itself as a city with international design power. The city of Gwangju is upgrading facilities for exhibitions, the performing arts and museums, as well as establishing research institutions.

  At this juncture, we need to ponder how we can successfully host the 2009 Gwangju Design Biennale, themed “The Clue.” We should start with practical self-reflection in addition to numerical awakening based on data. The evaluation report released by the Gwangju Information Research indicated that the first Design Biennale, “Light into Life,” was shy of international aspect and applicability of works of art. According to the survey, these were improved upon at the second Design Biennale, titled “L.I.G.H.T.” At the same time, however, the post-evaluation of the second Design Biennale stated that the most frequently and importantly questioned element was whether “the services provided by exhibition coordinators were sufficient,” followed by the questions on whether “the event provided an opportunity to enjoy design,” “there were enough amenities,” and “the theme and the exhibition corresponded to one another.” I hope to see a remarkable improvement in these fields in the upcoming Design Biennale so that it can be an event, which, just as its theme says, is as good as it gets – its Korean theme is “as good as it gets” (translated).

  Let me elaborate on the practical self-reflection that I mentioned above, because a very small mistake tarnished the entire image of the 2007 Gwangju Design Biennale. As the survey pointed out, the services provided by volunteers were relatively noticeable in a negative way and they consequently tainted the overall image of the event. What I would like to emphasize is that design is omnipresent not only at the products in the exhibition hall but also in every move we make. Thus, we should deliver “design of kindness,” “design of volunteering,” “design of smile,” etc. As a result, Gwangju will redefine itself as the city of design and culture.

  The 2009 Gwangju Design Biennale will be open from September 18 to November 5 in the form of a wide variety of exhibitions, conferences and workshops in the Gwangju Biennale Hall and all around the city of Gwangju. Under the theme “The Clue,” three expanded projects — Design to Save, Design to Care and Design to Share where Clothing, Eating, Living, Enlightenment and Enjoyment that form the basis of life — are mutually engaging. The theme that means to offer the clue to establish the identity of Korean design will serve as a good opportunity to show a life of design in Gwangju just as it is and to demonstrate a life of design of students at Chonnam National University along the way.