About SMB

Since its inauguration in 2000 as an initiative of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Mediacity Biennale has earned international recognition for its experimental engagement with the conditions of the contemporary, new developments in media, and the changing fabric of the city. These themes were first explored in the Biennale’s precursor exhibition, SEOUL in MEDIA, which was held three times between 1996 and 1999. Since then, the Biennale has presented twelve editions, each embodying ideas and activities that resonate with their time.

Featuring approximately 50 participating artists/groups and attracting an average of 140,000 visitors, each edition of SMB mediates various forms of participation through exhibitions and programs held at Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) and other satellite venues throughout the city. The pre-Biennale program, operated by SeMA since 2022, explores SMB’s identity through the museum’s permanent collection and digital archives as a means of reinforcing SMB’s foundational characteristics.

SeMA-Hana Media Art Award

Founded in 2014 and sponsored by the Hana Financial Group, the SeMA-Hana Media Art Award is a major showcase of the group’s commitment to raising the profile and public awareness of modern and contemporary art in Korea. Co-organized by Seoul Museum of Art in conjunction with the Seoul Mediacity Biennale, the award is dedicated to supporting and fostering the art and cultural ground shared between Seoul and other cities of the globe. Selected by an international jury, the award is presented to a participant or participants as a recognition of their contribution to the biennale.

2014
Jury Panels Yasamasa Morimura, Artistic Director of Yokohama Triennale 2014; Ahn Soyeon, Deputy Director of PLATEAU, Korea; Doryun Chong, Chief Curator of M+, Hong Kong; Henk Slager, Dean of MaHKU Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design, Netherlands; Kim Hong-hee, General Director, Seoul Museum of Art
Recipient Eric Baudelaire, The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi, and 27 Years without Images, 2011

2016
Head of the Jury Hoor Al Qasimi, President and founding Director of Sharjah Art Foundation
Jury Panels Bartomeu Mari Ribas, Director of National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; Venus Lau, Artistic Director of OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Beijing; Joo Eunji, Artistic Director of 5th Anyang Public Art Project, Korea; Kim Hong-hee General Director, Seoul Museum of Art
Co-recipients Christine Sun Kim, Game of Skill 2.0, 2015; Korakrit Arunanondchai, Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3, 2015

2018
Head of the Jury Seo Hyun-Suk, Artist and Yonsei University Graduate School of Communication and Arts Professor, Korea
Jury Panels Cho Jeong-hwan, President of Galmuri Publishing Company; David Curtis, Cornelius Castoriadis Researcher; Kim Seungduk, Curator and France Le Consortium Co-Director; Zhang Zikang, Director of Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Museum, China
Recipient Kearn-Hyung Ahn, How to stop being Korean, 2018

2021
Head of the Jury Ahn Kyu chul, Artist and Head of SeMA Advisory Committee
Jury Panels Susanne Pfeffer, Director of MUSEUM FUR MODERNE KUNST Frankfurt am Main, Germany; June Yap Director, Curatorial, Collections and Programmes, Singapore Art Museum; Yung Ma, Artistic Director, The 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale; Beck Jee-sook, General Director, Seoul Museum of Art
Co-recipients Eisa Jocson, Superwoman: Empire of Care, 2021; Hao Jingban, I Understand…, 2021

2023
Head of the Jury Hee-young Kim, Professor at the School of Fine Arts at Kookmin University, Korea
Jury Panels Alia Swastika, Director of Jogja Biennale Foundation, Indonesia; Humberto Moro, Deputy Director of Program, Dia Art Foundation; Rachael Rakes, Artistic Director, The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale; Eunju Choi General Director, Seoul Museum of Art
Recipient Francois Knoetze, Core Dump, 2018-2019