Circularity symposium presented by the Institute for Arts and Culture at Seoul National University

The Institute for Culture and Arts is a new effort at SNU that aims to foster a trans-disciplinary, trans-genre, and trans-industrial ecosystem for practitioners outside of art and technology. The ICA at SNU, which is linked to the academic infrastructure, aims to create a platform for innovators from many fields by providing spaces for networking and displaying initiatives. The ICA’s new building, New House, is scheduled to open in 2026.

The symposium’s goal is to lay the groundwork for the ICA’s effort while also broadening our understanding of art and culture in relation to technology, the environment, and the market. The symposium is an attempt to capture the ecosystem of practices in various disciplines today—art, design, architecture, philosophy, cosmology, sociology, anthropology, and more—through the lens of “circularity” beyond productivism by recognizing the circulatory structures of resources, relationships, and technology.

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The first track, “Nurturing Creative Minds”, will explore existing models for creators, structures of encouraging networks and entrepreneurship for further sustainability, and will examine how generational circularity reinvents knowledge through such structures. Raul Zbengheci (Deputy Director of NEW INC of New Museum in New York), Keith Kyuseung Noh (Team Lead & Creative Director of ZER01NE by Hyundai Motors Company), and Ute Meta Bauer (Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore) will share their experiences in incubating and supporting creative projects in the sectors of art, commerce, and academia.

The second track, “Socio-Ecosystem of the Future”, will explore the circulation of resources, people, and issues across various societal domains, with a focus on food, design, architecture, and urbanism. L. Sasha Gora (Cultural Historian & International Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI Essen)), Soik Jung (Co-Artistic Director of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennial 2023, Director of the Urban Mediation Project), and In-ah Shin (Co-Organizer of Feminist Designer Social Club) will share their research and practices that are embedded in specific communities and how they create greater socio-ecological effects in the world.

The third track, “After Technology”, will address how art can drive the speculative potential of technology through philosophical thinking and visual practices. Alex Taek-Gwang Lee (Professor of Cultural Studies at the School of Global Studies at Kyung Hee University) and Soh Yeong Roh (Director of the Art Center Nabi) will explore how technological circularity can be achieved through art that goes beyond merely responding to transcendental technology. Binna Choi from Artist Collective ‘Unmake Lab’ and Artist and Filmmaker Daniel R. Small will unravel their artistic experiment that stimulates our imagination beyond technology.

The symposium will culminate with a rave party starring Sorrow Club, which will take place immediately following the program at SNU’s Power Plant. The Institute for Culture and Arts hopes that the “Circularity” symposium will establish new contacts, inspire new research, and spread new narratives in the arts and beyond.