GWANGJU.- Maria Lind, 49, the director of Tensta Konsthall in Stockholm, was appointed as the artistic director for the 11th Gwangju Biennale that will be taking place in the year of 2016.

The foundation of Gwangju Biennale held the 143rd board of directors’ meeting and announced Maria Lind as the artistic director for the biennale next year. Maria Lind will start carrying out duties as the artistic director of the Gwangju Biennale once the director agreement contract is completed.

The foundation explained that Maria Lind has been exploring the role of a mediator between art and society on the basis that breaks away from the existing system and sets her apart from the others. Thus, it was decided that she was the most appropriate candidate in addressing the challenges of Gwangju Biennale and setting out a new vision.

The Swedish director is thought to be a great representative of Gwangju Biennale for visual art. She has been conducting projects reflecting social roles of art, and executed exhibitions that revitalize isolated towns and cities by encouraging citizens' participation to connect with the outside world through culture.

Maria Lind is based in Stockholm and active in the world of art. She obtained a Ph.D. in art history from Stockholm University. Stockholm Tensta Konsthall, where Maria Lind has been working since 2011, is an art museum that explores social roles of art and is famous for being a hub for cultural activities.

Maria Lind has carried out exhibitions in the art museum since 2011 including Frederick Kiesler: Visions at Work, Tensta Museum: Reports from New Sweden, and Meta and Regina: Two Magazine Sisters in Crime. She has also developed her career as a curator by participating in large-scale international art events such as the Sweden Hall in Sao-Paulo Biennale (2002) and the 1st Vienna Biennale Special Exhibition (2015).

Importantly, Maria Lind has had a special relationship with Gwangju. She participated in the International Workshop of Asian Culture Complex as a speaker in 2010 and served as an academic advisor of Gwangju Biennale International Curator Course in 2013. Such experiences raise expectations that she will successfully harmonize the local culture and the global culture, which is a challenge facing Gwangju Biennale, ultimately forming a discourse of a new era.

She shows strong will to use her linguistic ability, as she is fluent in English, German, Russian and French. Also she intends to use the network she's built in the international art circle to expand Gwangju Biennale's reach by cooperating with art museums across the world as a 'Biennale Fellow."

Maria Lind served as Director of IKT from 2006 to 2011 and won the Walter Hopps Award for curatorial achievement in 2009.

For selection procedure of Art Director of 2016 Gwangju Biennale, the foundation of Gwangju Biennale formed a taskforce consisting of 5 people from the foundation including the President Yangwoo Park last December and held 12 meetings. The foundation also invited people outside of the foundation and held two meetings in Gwangju and Seoul, respectively, for the appointment of the artistic director. Last month, the International Advisory Committee composed of 7 art experts (3 foreign art experts, 4 domestic art experts), narrowed down the candidates to two. On May 29th, a sub-committee selected the final candidate who was then approved by the board of directors in the morning of May 30th.

Maria Lind said, "Gwangju Biennale has a great strength in carrying out a high quality exhibition and bringing about insight into Gwangju's distinct characteristics. I will highlight these aspects. I will make sure next year’s Gwangju Biennale will be a place where artists, the public, people working in the art industry and local residents gather together to discuss, relate, and communicate in the name of art."

Yangwoo Park, the president of Gwangju Biennale foundation said, "Maria Lind, the artistic director of the 2016 Gwangju Biennale, Maria Lind, is the most appropriate person in implementing new visions of Gwangju Biennale such as social roles of art and harmonization of local and global cultures."

On the same day the artistic director of the 2016 Biennale was chosen, the board of directors decided to run the event for 66 days from September 2 to November 6, 2016.