Int'l designers to take part in upcoming Gwangju design festival

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- Over 500 veteran and emerging designers from 48
countries will take part in the upcoming Gwangju Design Biennale, the largest and
one of few design fairs in Asia, organizers said Thursday.
Marking its third anniversary this year, the design festival will be held Sept.

18-Nov. 4 in the South Korean provincial city located about 330 kilometers from
Seoul.
Held under the theme "The Clue," up to 1,951 design installations and products
will be showcased during the show, with 376 domestic and global firms attending
as potential buyers.
Prominent attendees include Japanese designers Issey Miyaki and Satoshi Nakagawa,
French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, British chef Jamie Oliver, South Korean
director Kim Ki-duk, novelist Lee Oi-soo and poet Hwang Ji-woo.
"We chose the theme with the goal of throwing new design motifs to the global
design world," Eun Byung-soo, chief director of the event, told a press gathering
in Seoul Thursday. "We strove to embrace artists from all sorts of sectors to
find as many new 'clues' as possible."
Held in turn with Asia's first contemporary art fair, the Gwangju Biennale, the
Gwangju Design Biennale was established in 2005 and has since grown several fold
drawing over 500 artists each year.
The upcoming event sets out to reevaluate the term "think globally and act
locally" by examining five examples of traditional Korean culture: Clothing,
Eating, Living, Enlightening and Enjoying, organizers said.
Three expanded projects -- Design to Save, Design to Care and Design to Share --
will cross-section the five culturally located themes, addressing major topics of
contemporary design such as sustainability, universal design and social
engagement.
"Linking motifs of Korean culture to global design culture at large, the
exhibitions will hopefully lay the groundwork for a brand new design culture,"
Eun said.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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