Gwangju (South Korea) - Under the theme "The Clue", Icsid Promotional Member the Gwangju Biennale Foundation will open its 3rd edition of the Gwangju Design Biennale on 18 September 2009. Taking place until 4 November 2009 in the Gwangju Biennale Hall and all around the city of Gwangju, South Korea, this event sets out to reevaluate the concept "think globally and act locally" by examining five examples of traditional Korean culture.

The five themes of Clothing, Eating, Living, Enlightening and Enjoying form the basis of life and the basis of the Gwangju Design Biennale 2009. Because these five human actions form the basis of a complete and harmonious life across all cultures, they are also themes in which designers, who want to improve that life, may search for clues. The extraordinary resources, objects and values upon which Korean culture thrives serve as a starting point for international designers and artists in their creation of new design concepts.

The curators of each theme exhibition try to pinpoint their relevance to specific culture and design. The themes will be filtered and interpreted through a set of responses by international artists and designers, who will create specific works in reaction to the Korean tradition, thus taking the potentialities of Korean design culture to a global level.

Three expanded projects cross section the five culturally located themes. Design to Save, Design to Care and Design to Share, proactively address major topics of global contemporary design such as sustainability, universal design and social engagement.

Additional programmes around the Gwangju Design Biennale 2009 include the Gwangju Biennale International Curator Course (24 August - 20 September) and the International Design Forum (18-19 September).

The artistic director of the third Gwangju Design Biennale is Byungsoo Eun. Eun launched the design brand VIUM in the United States, Korea and Japan in 2001. He was a guest designer at Maison de Objet of France in 2004 and was curator for Asia Design, the main exhibition of the first Gwangju Design Biennale in 2005. The following year he was the senior director for KT's Composite Cultural Space Project (2006). Under his direction 15 Korean and international curators are responsible for the seven different sections of the biennale.

About the Gwangju Biennale

The Gwangju Biennale, which started in September 1995, was Asia's first contemporary art biennale. The first edition was visited by 1.6 million people. More than 500 artists and performers from 60 countries took part in the first edition. Ever since, each edition of the biennale has been visited by more than half a million viewers and the event has grown to become the most influential, respected biennial in Asia and one of the most prominent biennials in the world.