GWANGJU RULES
by Ben Davis



Gwangju is a quaint little Korean town of 1.4 million souls that most people in the U.S. have never heard of. Its name bears the association, primarily, of the 1980 Gwangju Massacre, which helped impel the country’s transition from crusty (U.S.-backed) dictatorship to the high-tech democracy it is today. In the art world, the name also brings to mind the Gwangju Biennale, founded in 1995 to commemorate the spirit of the Gwangju dissidents, and spur development.

...more