Actually, I was never interested in art. To speak frankly, I was a laywoman of art. Thus, it was my first time to visit the Gwangju Biennale, which most Koreans have visited. It was the fifth Biennale for displaying ‘design’. As the purpose of Design Biennale is to promote the local design industry and suggest experimental design, the 5th Biennale also displayed not only local pieces which gave us intimacy but also foreign pieces which were creative and innovative. About 600 pieces coming from more than 300 designers were displayed over four parts of exhibition: thematic exhibitions, main exhibition, project exhibition and special exhibition.
Above all, what impressed me was the title of the exhibition, “GEOSIGI, MEOSIGI”, two Korean words widely used in the Jeolla province. These words are usually referred to when people can’t remember something’s name, so they substitute its name to ‘Geosigi, Meosigi’. I wondered how these words only used by Koreans could be changed into English. When I found the answer, I had no choice except laughing out loud because of its creativity. Geosigi becomes ‘Anything’ because the first sound ‘gut’ means ‘thing’ in English, and Meosigi becomes ‘something’ since the first sound ‘mut’ means ‘flavor’ in English. ‘Anything’ represents what is familiar to us and ‘something’ represents a new environment. Through the process of creating ‘Something’ from ‘Anything’ by people’s specific needs and desires, this exhibition could take place.
As I entered the exhibition, I was fascinated with all the designs and continued to take pictures. All the sections were well-composed and detailed, so everybody seemed to enjoy the exhibition with comfortable minds. My favorite section was the first due to the intimacy of Korean traditional objects like baskets, winnows, thimbles, and so on. I was surprised that these familiar things, some which one might even think trivial, could be art. I could feel our ancestors’ spirit from the arrangement of them. In other sections, there were furniture from diverse countries, reformed objects, designs for children, and eco-friendly works.
The most memorable work was ‘What is the most valuable thing in Gwangju?’ It was made with 1,000 Gwangju citizens’ replies, of which twenty answers were selected. Then various keywords such as Mt. Mudeung, the Gwangju Democratic Movement, and ex-president Kim Dae-jung were printed on the wall. Some of the answers were displayed with cross-stitch works which were made by the local women, including multicultural ones. The work showed Gwangju’s identity and spirit. In particular, one of the keywords, the Gwangju Democratic Movement, made even me solemn. I appreciated the Gwangju citizens’ sacrifices in front of the work which made Korea a democratic country.
After seeing all of the galleries, I could understand evidently what Lee O-young, famous Korean writer, said. “Heaven made the individual stars, but the mind of men made constellations out of these stars.” The things that we live with reflect our minds and our views of life. The 2013 Gwangju Biennale gave me lots of inspiration, and I hope to visit the Gwangju Design Biennale again two years later.