Seoul Mediacity Biennale names Irini Papadimitriou artistic director for 2027 edition
Summary
Irini Papadimitriou has been appointed artistic director of the 14th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, scheduled to open in August 2027 in Seoul. Her proposed theme, “Machines of Repair,” will examine technology’s links to power, surveillance, resource extraction and social inequality, and consider how technological systems might serve the public. The exhibition will include artworks and public programs questioning the values behind technological progress. The Seoul Museum of Art plans to present the biennale’s central concepts and curatorial direction at a pre-biennale forum in November.
Key Facts
- Papadimitriou is exhibitions director at Diriyah Art Futures in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- Her previous roles include digital program manager at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, head of new media art development at Watermans and creative director at FutureEverything.
- Her curatorial projects include AI: Who’s Looking After Me? at Science Gallery London in 2023, Plásmata: Bodies, Dreams, and Data in Athens in 2022 and You and AI: Through the Algorithmic Lens in Athens in 2021.
- The museum’s international open call attracted 70 proposals from curators and researchers across six continents.
- Judges assessed proposals for originality, feasibility and relevance to the biennale’s identity and Seoul’s urban context.
Irini Papadimitriou / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
A curator whose work explores the uneasy relationship between art, technology and society will lead the 14th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, bringing a critical examination of artificial intelligence (AI) and technological power to Seoul’s flagship international art event.
Irini Papadimitriou, a curator and creative director specializing in contemporary art, new media and digital culture, has been appointed artistic director of the biennale, which is scheduled to open in August 2027, the Seoul Museum of Art said.
Papadimitriou’s proposed theme, “Machines of Repair,” will examine how technology intersects with power, surveillance, resource extraction and social inequality, while exploring how technological systems might be redirected toward public benefit.
The exhibition will bring together artworks and public programs that question the values underpinning technological progress and imagine alternatives to systems built around control and domination.
Papadimitriou previously served as digital program manager at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, head of new media art development at Watermans and creative director at FutureEverything.
She is currently exhibitions director at Diriyah Art Futures in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Her curatorial projects include “AI: Who’s Looking After Me?” at Science Gallery London in 2023, “Plásmata: Bodies, Dreams, and Data” in Athens in 2022 and “You and AI: Through the Algorithmic Lens” in Athens in 2021.
She also served as artistic director of the 2023 Sea Art Festival in Busan, giving her direct experience with Korea’s contemporary art scene.
The museum selected Papadimitriou through its third international open call for an artistic director, which attracted 70 proposals from curators and researchers across six continents.
The selection process included document reviews and interviews, with judges assessing the originality, feasibility and relevance of proposals to the biennale’s identity and Seoul’s urban context.
The museum said the appointment would help expand the biennale’s engagement with contemporary social issues and connect diverse cultural perspectives.
Papadimitriou said she would build on the event’s history of critical dialogue between art and technology, creating space to debate how technology could serve the public good.
The museum plans to introduce the biennale’s central concepts and curatorial direction at a pre-biennale forum in November.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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