The 42nd Anniversary of the May 18 People's Uprising Commemoration 'May Art Festival' Held Across Gwangju

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] To commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the May 18 People's Uprising, the May Art Festival, hosted by the May Art Festival Promotion Council and organized by the Gwangju Branch of the Korean Artists Association, will be held throughout Gwangju.

According to Gwangju Minmi Association on the 6th, this year's May Art Festival (General Director Lee Hyunnam) will be held under the slogan "May Standing on the Path of Transition, Walking with the New Light of Hope."

The festival features major events including ▲The 34th May Exhibition "Transition: The Way & Hope" and Gallery Saenggak Sangja's invited exhibition by Hong Seongmin titled "Breath" ▲May Hall 10th Anniversary invited exhibition by Lee Sangho "People of May with Eyes Closed and Open" ▲Buk-gu Cultural Center special invited exhibition by Lee Giwon "Spring Days Permeated in the Empty Fields" ▲Biwoom Museum special exhibition "Gwangju People Who Became Flowers" ▲May Art Museum special exhibition "Regression_Flare of Dreamers" ▲Jeonil Building 245 May 18 Memorial Space "May Mothers, That Trauma" ▲Jeonil Building 245 3rd Floor Citizen Gallery's Horanggashina Art Polygon project "Connected Spot" ▲May 18 Democratic Movement Archives "May 18 Democratic Movement Asahi Shimbun Unreleased Collection Special Exhibition" ▲National May 18 Democratic Cemetery Memorial Hall "Advancing May" ▲National May 18 Democratic Cemetery Entrance 3rd Art Banner Exhibition "People Who Became May Themselves," among others.

The 34th Gwangju Minmi Association's "May Exhibition" (from the 13th to the 25th), the oldest exhibition event of the May Art Festival, will be held under the theme "Transition: The Way & Hope" at Eunam Art Museum and Mudeung Gallery.

Additionally, the street art exhibition "Homyeong (Calling) May 18 Street Art Exhibition" (from the 7th to the 31st) will be held at the May 18 Democratic Square and Geumnam-ro, and a special May Art Festival exhibition featuring fresh planning by young curators titled "Hello, Class of 80, This is 000" (from the 17th to the 29th) will be held at Yangnim Art Museum.

Furthermore, a May Forum (at 2 p.m. on the 14th) to deepen the theme will be held at Dong-gu Miro Center under the topic "The Spirit of May, Artists' Imagination, and Our Future," generating much anticipation.

Presentations and discussions will be held on three topics: artist Jeon Seungil's "Artistic Memory and Reflection on Genocide," art critic Kim Jonggil's "The Root Structure of Asian Aesthetics and the Imagination of the Well Myth?The Humanistic Singularity and Subversive Thought of the May Incident," and Shin Yongcheol, curator of Busan Democracy Park, on "The Wavering, Flickering, and Stirring People's Art."

Alongside this, a talk with six artists and planners sharing their creative worlds through stories will be held at Miro Center (at 2 p.m. on the 21st).

Also, an online public art project "One Heart Assembly 5·18," which allows citizen participation, will be held concurrently.

General Director Lee Hyunnam stated, "As we step onto the path of transition, we must never forget the past nor lose our way, and now we must be able to walk steadily on that path with newness. I want to emphasize that this path can be suggested through the imagination of artists."

Kim Byungtaek, co-representative of Gwangju Minmi Association, said, "In this era of change and transition, it will be an opportunity to gauge the current status of Gwangju ethnic art and the realist art movement, and as a measure of the spirit of the times, to break away from clich?s and predict and diagnose the future."