The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), will host an international symposium titled “The Paris Biennale and Korean–Japanese Art” at MMCA Seoul on Friday, October 30. The symposium is part of a joint research initiative with the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT).
 
With the goal of promoting Korean art on the global stage, MMCA has been conducting collaborative research projects on a range of topics with leading art institutions abroad, including those in the United States, Singapore, China, and Hong Kong.
 
The MMCA–MOMAT Joint Research Project, carried out from 2025 to 2026, is part of this broader effort. It focuses on specific themes situated at the intersection of Korean and Japanese art history, with findings shared through small-scale exhibitions, symposia, publications, and other formats.
 
MMCA will present the findings of the first joint research project, which focuses on the Paris Biennale, at the upcoming symposium, while MOMAT will share its findings through an exhibition in February 2027. Japan’s National Center for Art Research (NCAR) also participated in the project as a collaborating institution.

The Paris Biennale, the subject of the joint research project, was an international exhibition held in Paris, France, over 13 editions between 1959 and 1985. It was conceived as a means of revitalizing French society through culture and the arts in the aftermath of World War II, while reinforcing Paris’s status as a major center of the art world.
 
The influence of the Paris Biennale, which featured artists between the ages of 20 and 35, extended to young artists in Korea and Japan.
 
For these artists, participating in the biennale offered a way to break away from the academicism-dominated art scenes in their home countries and connect with the international contemporary art world. The list of Korean artists who participated in the Paris Biennale reflects the trajectory of Korean contemporary art history, from Informel to experimental art.
 
Notably, Lee Ufan participated in the Paris Biennale as a Korean artist in 1971 and later, from 1973 to 1977, as a correspondant—a member of the committee responsible for recommending Korean artists for the biennale.
 
He regarded the event as a starting point for entering the international art world and an opportunity to expand Korea–Japan artistic exchange. Amid the global transformations that followed the May 1968 protests in France, the Paris Biennale also helped foster an international network connecting Korea, Japan, and France.

“The Paris Biennale and Korean–Japanese Ar” brings together researchers, curators, artists, and critics from Korea, Japan, and France to examine the history and significance of the Paris Biennale, as well as the artistic practices and institutional frameworks of its time. The symposium presents diverse art-historical perspectives on the exhibition.
 
Part 1: “The History and Reinterpretation of the Paris Biennale” explores the biennale’s history and contemporary significance. Elitza Dulguerova (Assistant Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) will present findings from an international research project on the Paris Biennale, initiated in 2017 under the direction of the French National Institute for Art History (INHA).
 
Shiori Sahara (MOMAT Assistant Curator) and Yushin Jeon (MMCA Curator) will each discuss the participation of Japanese and Korean artists in the Paris Biennale and the significance of the event in the art histories of their respective countries.

Part 2: “The Paris Biennale: Practices and Institutions” features firsthand accounts from artists Koshimizu Susumu and Lee Kang So, who participated in the 1971 and 1975 editions of the Paris Biennale, respectively. In 1971, artists were selected on a country-by-country basis. In 1975, the selection system changed, with candidates preselected by correspondants and the final decisions made by an international committee.
 
Minemura Doshiaki, a critic who served as the biennale’s only Asian member of the international committee for three editions between 1973 and 1977, will discuss the significance and limitations of the Paris Biennale, including these changes to its selection process.
 
Registration opens at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 16, via the MMCA website (mmca.go.kr). Admission is free, with 250 places available on a first-come, first-served basis.

References

• 국립현대미술관 보도자료 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) Press Release)