Applications are open for the KICB2024 International Competition
The 2024 Korean International Ceramic Biennale (KICB) International Competition, an art exhibition in the form of a competition, has been hosted by the Korea Ceramic Foundation (KOCEF) since 2001. This event aims at providing ceramists in Korea and abroad an opportunity to present their works, in addition to encouraging the exchange of current trends in ceramic art and proposing a future vision for the field. This year marks the 11th iteration of the international competition, and online application for the event is scheduled to become available from February 19th at 1 p.m., and will last until March 18th at midnight KST. Below is information relating to procedures for applying for the international competition, things for applicants to keep in mind, and the unique features of the event.
How to Apply for the KICB2024 International Competition
Only online application submissions will be accepted. The announcement for the competition is available on the KICB website and is downloadable in four languages (Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese). The submission page will be open on the KICB website on February 19th at 1 p.m. KST. On the submission page, applicants must provide the requested information and include the title of the work with a caption and description (in Korean or English). In addition, instructions on how to install the work and five images of the work must be provided. Since this competition will place as much emphasis on the background content aspect as it will on the visual aspect, it is recommended that participants give careful consideration to how they will approach writing the work’s description prior to submission. As with the submission process, the judging process will also take place online. The number of submissions for the international competition in the past ranged from 1,500 to 10,000 works. This year, only 60 entries will be selected from submissions for the exhibition. The selected 60 submissions will then be transported to Yeoju Dojasesang (previously, Brand Shop) in June for the second round of selection so that the top 10 awarded pieces will be selected after judging of the physical work. The exhibition will take place at the Gyeonggi Museum of Ceramic Design from September 6th, 2024 through February 2nd, 2025.
Things to Keep in Mind
▶ Types of Works: This year, submissions are limited to works that use clay (ceramics) as the main material or primary theme. This includes traditional and heritage ceramics, functional ceramics, sculptural ceramics, and installation pieces. This even includes other formats such as multimedia and sound. Excluded works are those such as paintings, prints, or photographs, which, although may feature ceramics as a theme, do not fit with this competition’s aim of “expanding the possibilities of clay.”
▶ Eligibility: As stated in the competition announcement, eligibility is limited to ceramic artists who hold the copyrights and ownership rights to their submitted works. The top 10 awarded pieces are to be housed at the Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Arts. However, in rare cases, ownership rights may be held by a gallery or an individual. The limited eligibility is intended to avoid such rare cases.
▶ Submission Conditions: As for the submission conditions, the announcement states that submissions are limited to original works or pieces that have not previously been awarded in any other domestic or international contests. Should a work that has previously been awarded in another contest be submitted and awarded in this international contest, the award will be revoked and the prize withdrawn.
Unique Features of the KICB2024 International Competition
▶ KICB Traditional Prize: This year, the “KICB Traditional Prize” has been added as an award category of the international competition in response to the demands of the times. Additionally, it is for researching and preserving works, as well as for incorporating futuristic elements into the world’s traditional cultures. This is also an experimental attempt to assess the possibilities that enable the field of modern ceramics to grow and expand qualitatively through the interplay with traditional and heritage ceramics, which occupy a large portion of the ceramic art scene.
▶ Exhibition Venue Change: For the 1st to 11th iterations of the KICB International Competition, the exhibition of the international competition has been held at the Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art in Icheon, where the thematic exhibition of the KICB was held. This year, the exhibition of the international competition will be held at the Gyeonggi Museum of Ceramic Design in Yeoju. Therefore, installation artists need to consider the spatial characteristics of the new exhibition venue, which has an interior that differs significantly from the “white cubes” of the previous venue.
▶ Closing Award Gaps: There will be a change applied to the composition of the international competition awards this year. Awards will now comprise of the KICB Grand Prize (1), KICB Excellence Prize (7), KICB Traditional Prize (2), and KICB Prize (50), with award gaps being closed. Furthermore, except for one Grand Prize winner (with prize money of 60 million KRW), all the other nine prize winners (such as the Excellence Prize and Traditional Prize) will receive 10 million KRW each. In addition, the change in the award name from the Qualification Prize to the KICB Prize is intended to convey that the awardees are all exceptional artists whose submissions have been selected as the final 60 pieces in the international competition, which is an honor in itself, as the program has received at least 1,000 submissions each year. This year, all 60 artists whose submissions have been selected for the international exhibition will be awarded the same trophy. Despite the presence of some award gaps, this is meant to convey that all 60 artists are talented enough to be selected in the KICB2024 International Competition.
Contact
contact@kicb.or.kr
Thank you for the opportunity to apply!