A visit to Gwangju Biennale alerted FPC member Lee Kai-chung to the possibilities of doing an artist’s residency in Seoul to study archiving practices for art, which he did and shared upon his return to HK in “Can’t Live Without.” 「這次駐場計劃是基於第一次在光州雙年展後到訪過MMCA作資料搜集的經驗出發的。那時其實並不知道有駐場計劃可以申請,只是純屬對一個藝術館的好奇…」
Evelyn Char explores South Korea’s biggest state-own Asia Culture Center, which archives art historical documents from various countries in Asia. She discovers that this new national monumental sits right on the former site of the 10-day long Gwuangju (Kwangju) Uprising in 1980 (aka May 18 Democratic Uprising, UNESCO), or Gwangju Democratization Movement.
A deliberate dual emphasis on domestic artists and international stars, the care for documentation and criticism as regular agenda items, and growing experiments on alternative independent art-space models from within the art community… Evelyn Char notes her observation in a recent art tour to Gwangju and Seoul.