Biennale attendance tops 100,000

More than 100,000 people have visited the 8th Gwangju Biennale since its opening earlier this month, boosted by large numbers during last week’s Chuseok holiday, organizers said Monday.

The contemporary art festival was visited by an average of 7,500 guests daily over the three-day holiday, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving. The total number of visitors since the festival’s Sept. 2 launch stood at over 117,000 by the end of Chuseok on Thursday.

Chuseok celebrations included a concert and events in which visitors were given free admission to the biennale. The 10,000th person to take part in Franco Vaccari’s “Leave on the walls a photographic trace of your fleeting visit” won a free admission pass to all future Gwangju Biennales.

The festival runs to Nov. 7 and is titled “10,000 Lives,” from an epic poem depicting the struggles of Korean people. It features works by 134 artists from 31 countries.

Yonhap