Gwangju Biennale and Glocalism Focusing on the International Curator Course(GBICC)

This study examines how glocalism is enacted in the field of contemporary art, focusing on the Gwangju Biennale International Curator Course (GBICC). Through a qualitative case study, this study analyzes how the GBICC, situated within Gwangju’s unique historical and sociocultural context, generates and expands intersecting discourses with international curators. Within the theoretical framework of glocalism, the GBICC reflects the complex relationship between the local and the global in both educational and practical contexts. The international curators who participated in the program engaged with the locality and sociopolitical memories of Gwangju, linking them to contemporary art discourse and integrating them into new curatorial practices. Furthermore, participants continued to extend and sustain this learning experience beyond the program through diverse forms of collaboration and networking. The GBICC has thus emerged as a flexible and sustainable platform in which the local and the global interact, from participants’ initial motivations to their practical engagement and subsequent networking. In addition, this study highlights translocality as a concrete extension of glocal practices. Translocality refers to a socio-spatial network in which multiple localities are interconnected on an equal footing to co-produce discourse and practice (Greiner & Sakdapolrak, 2013). The GBICC essentially functions as a polycentric platform that builds and facilitates such translocal networks. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the education and discourse formation of the GBICC, grounded in glocalism, have developed through the expansion and sustainability of translocal networks. This finding demonstrates that biennale education programs go beyond mere exhibitions to function as multilayered spaces of international cooperation and learning, offering significant theoretical and practical implications for the design and operation of locally based international art education programs.