Marieke van Hal, director Biennial Foundation and Un-Tae Kang, Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Gwangju & Chairman of Gwangju Biennale Foundation signed on 3 June 2011 at Hotel Monaco in Venice, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of their respective institutions, to cooperate in the organization of the first World Biennial Forum, scheduled to take place in Gwangju at the occasion of the 9th Gwangju Biennale in 2012.
The World Biennial Forum will be the first professional forum on actual and practical issues in the field, aiming to provide professionals from the international biennial community, academia, and contemporary art practice with a multilateral convention platform.
Shaped especially for biennial organizations and its multi-stakeholders involved, the World Biennial Forum will enable practitioners from all over the world to exchange on common practices, problems, experiences and expertise, as well as to discuss the foremost topics and concerns in the arena.
The World Biennial Forum will involve the participation of representatives of biennial institutions, and creative and critical professionals (artists, curators and theorists), both the most renowned and promising, all coming together in a collegial spirit.
Expecting professionals from all corners of the world to attend, the World Biennial Forum aims to provide participants of varied expertise and cultural background with a new global stage to meet and exchange on professional biennial practice.
The World Biennial Forum is an initiative of Biennial Foundation. The forum will be taking place every two or three years in collaboration with, and hosted by a different biennial or triennial organization in the world.