The Nam June Paik Art Center (operated by Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation) and the Pinacoteca de São Paulo in Brazil co-hosted an international forum on May 31 as the inaugural collaboration of the ‘Hyundai Translocal Series’, a global art partnership initiative announced by Hyundai Motor Company earlier this year. Held in Yongin, South Korea, the forum was conceived as a contemporary extension of Nam June Paik’s pioneering spirit, which blurred the boundaries between art and technology to enable transcultural dialogue.

As part of a three-year curatorial exchange program, this groundbreaking collaboration between two institutions located on opposite sides of the globe aims to establish a new model for transregional artistic cooperation. Following this forum, the two museums plan to organize a joint exhibition in November 2026, to be held both in Yongin and São Paulo.

Titled “Nam June Paik’s Legacy: Video Art and Transcultural Dialogue”, the forum was rooted in Paik’s historical connection with Brazil, which began with his participation in the 1975 São Paulo Biennale. Expanding on this legacy, the event examined possibilities of cultural movement and connection across languages, music, broadcasting, and contemporary art—spanning from 20th-century satellite art to the present.

In Part 1 of the forum, Professor Doo-Bin Lim (Busan University of Foreign Studies) explored the migration of language, musician Na Hee-kyung delved into boundary-crossing Brazilian sounds, and KBS producer Tae-woong Lee presented on how Korea’s public broadcasting has mediated cultural intersections between Brazil and Korea. Part 2 featured scholar Bookyung Sohn (Binghamton University, SUNY), chief curator Ana Maria Maia and assistant curator Ana Paula Lopez (Pinacoteca), and Brazilian visual artist biarritzzz, who together explored the contemporary relevance of Paik’s legacy in Brazilian contemporary art.

The forum also marked the beginning of a larger global collaboration culminating in the 2026 exhibition. Participating artists have been confirmed as biarritzzz, Christine Sun Kim, Jane Jin Kaisen, and Vivian Caccuri—who will present new works exploring the concept of “language beyond language.”

Park Namhee, Director of the Nam June Paik Art Center, noted, “This forum is a living realization of what Paik envisioned as the ‘Global Soul’—a space for transcending cultural boundaries and experimenting with new forms of artistic ecosystems. It will serve as a platform to broaden the methods of collaboration in contemporary art from a truly global perspective.”

The forum was livestreamed via the Nam June Paik Art Center’s official YouTube channel and was open to the public free of charge. Far from being a one-off event, this initiative—encompassing forums, exhibitions, and ongoing exchange programs—represents a significant milestone in the deeper integration of Korean contemporary art into the global art discourse.