Mona OREN, The 2025 Cheongju Craft Biennale, set to open on September 4, has officially begun its countdown under the theme “Re-Crafting Tomorrow”, envisioning a new world through craft.
 
This year’s edition, the longest in its history, will run for 60 days and feature 22 exhibitions—the largest number to date—held simultaneously across the main exhibition, special exhibitions, and associated programs. The Biennale will showcase works by 140 artists from 16 countries.

Kang Jae-young, the artistic director leading the Biennale for the second consecutive edition since 2023, stated that the theme emerged from the question: “In response to today’s runaway civilization—constantly producing ‘unnecessary necessities,’ as Mark Twain once warned—how can craft provide an answer?”
 
She added, “The core theme, ‘crafting,’ refers not only to acts of making—clothing, food, and shelter—but also reflects the way individuals and communities live, think, and connect. It embraces hybridity and interconnectivity, serving as another name for craft itself.” Kang emphasized that this year’s Biennale “will be both a response from craft to modern civilization and a blueprint for reimagining the world anew.”

This year, the Biennale will feature a special exhibition titled 《Hyundai Translocal Series: Entangled and Woven》, presented through an art partnership with Hyundai Motors. The ‘Hyundai Translocal Series’ is a new art initiative that fosters collaborative exhibitions among art institutions in Korea and abroad. For this year’s edition, the 2025 Cheongju Craft Biennale, The Whitworth in Manchester, UK, and the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy in New Delhi, India, have been selected as partner institutions.
 
The exhibition will premiere at the 2025 Cheongju Craft Biennale and then travel to the National Crafts Museum in India in February 2026 and to the Whitworth in July 2026. Eight artist teams based in Korea and India will present new works developed through cross-border research trips, alongside rare textile artifacts from the Whitworth’s renowned 400-year-old collection.

The 2025 Cheongju Craft Biennale will offer more than just exhibitions. A variety of engaging programs will be available for all to enjoy, including the International Craft Forum co-hosted by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation (KCDF), as well as workshops, a Children’s Biennale, and a craft market.
 
Taking place in Cheongju, Korea’s only city designated both as a World Craft City by the WCC and as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, this year’s Biennale is already drawing strong interest—with 5,000 early bird tickets selling out in advance. The Biennale will run from September 4 to November 2, across the Culture Factory (Munhwanjejochang) and various locations throughout Cheongju.

References

• 청주공예비엔날레 보도자료 (Cheongju Craft Biennale Press Release)