The curators of the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale discuss their concept of exhibition as séance and why there need not be a distinction between art and life.
The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, titled Séance: Technology of the Spirit, opens in August 2025. The biennale was founded in 2000 as a space to engage with new developments in media and the changing fabric of the city. Exhibitions and programs are centered at Seoul Museum of Art, and there is an itinerant and multiform pre-biennale program that is designed to preview the show in varying locales while also presenting the permanent collection of the museum.
This edition of Seoul Mediacity Biennale is being organized by Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres and Lukas Brasiskis of e-flux, who curated the Shanghai Biennale two years ago. On that occasion they elevated the status of the moving image – even giving the biennale the title Cosmos Cinema. As they state, their plans for Seoul include structuring a film program so that it is not just a parallel screening series, but actually operates as an extension of the exhibition.
From an engagement with Cosmism to the idea of a séance, which likewise suggests an upward trajectory, though this time through the spiritual. Cinema is once again an animating concern, and this extends to the positioning of technology in the conceptual framework of the biennale. We spoke with the team about continuing on from their work in Shanghai, what they are developing for Seoul and why there need not be a distinction between art and life.
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