Gwangju Biennale: Open Call – 2025 International Curator Course

Courtesy of Gwangju Biennale Foundation (2024 GBICC).

Open Call – 2025 International Curator Course

Applications due 15 June 2025

We are pleased to share an exceptional opportunity for emerging curators and cultural practitioners worldwide: the 2025 edition of the Gwangju Biennale Academy International Curator Course is now open for applications.

This invitation is extended to early-career professionals and advanced students in the field of contemporary art who wish to deepen their curatorial practice in a rigorous, collaborative, and site-specific learning environment. The Gwangju Biennale Academy holds a distinctive place within the biennial landscape—emerging from Okwui Enwezor’s foundational vision and evolving into a vital platform for critical reflection, curatorial experimentation, and international exchange.

Launched in 2009, the International Curator Course builds on the Global Institute initiated by Okwui Enwezor in 2008 and has since hosted leading curators such as Maria Lind and Ute Meta Bauer. Over 15 years, the program has cultivated a strong network of 186 alumni shaping curatorial discourse across the globe.

In 2025, the course will be led by Binna Choi, curator of the Hawai‘i Triennial 2025 and Artistic Director of the 2026 Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Under her direction, the course will explore the theme “On Nationhood and Curatorial Practice.”

“Much of this possibility can be learned from genealogies of struggles for independence, sovereignty, or democracy, including the recent political unrest and resistance in South Korea, where art and culture have been deeply embedded, providing antidotes to non-participatory liberalism, myopic localism, authoritarian statehood, and the related ideas of art and curation.”

— Binna Choi

Participants will engage in two weeks of intensive programming in Gwangju and Seoul (7–21 September 2025), forming a temporary think tank through fieldwork, group discussions, guest lectures, and curatorial experimentation.

Course Details

Dates: September 7–21, 2025
(Orientation held on September 7)
Location: Gwangju and Seoul, South Korea
Eligibility: Emerging curators, art professionals, and advanced students under the age of 35
Language: English
Application Deadline: June 15, 2025 (11:59pm KST)

What’s included:
– Tuition fees
– Accommodation during the course
– Partial airfare (details provided upon acceptance)
– Certificate of completion

How to Apply

Applicants should submit the following materials (in English, as separate PDF files):

1. Application Form (download [here])
   – Statement of motivation and potential contribution (max. 500 words)
   – A proposal, experience, or case study related to the course theme (max. 500 words)

2. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

3. Portfolio (up to 10 pages documenting curatorial work, exhibitions, or writing)

4. Letter of Recommendation (optional)

Submit all materials to curatorcourse@gwangjubiennale.org
Email subject line: GBICC_Name

🔗 For full details and to download the application form, please visit:
gwangjubiennale.org/curatorcourse

Applicants will be notified individually by 27 June 2025.
(Participants from previous editions are not eligible.)

For questions, contact: curatorcourse@gwangjubiennale.org | T +82 62 608 4288