Park Chan-Kyong is an artist and film director from Korea. His contributions to Korea’s dynamic art scene also expand to his roles as critic, teacher, organiser, and curator. History was a prominent theme in his earlier work, dealing with events such as the Cold War and the division of the Korean Peninsula. He then found an interest in traditional Korean culture, especially religious and folk culture in Korea, as first observed in his 45-minute film Sindoan (2008), a ‘fantasy-documentary’ that marks a point of transition from Park’s focus on political structure to religious subjects.
Sindoan (2008) was a central work in Park’s first UK solo show presented by Iniva in 2015. The series of films and documentaries in the exhibition offered a new perspective on folk religious practices such as shamanism and utopian religious communities, from the period of colonisation and the Cold War to the present time.
His works have been shown in a number of international and national institutions including at Kukje Gallery, Seoul (2017); Tina Kim Gallery, New York (2016); Artheum, Beirut, Lebanon (2013); Iniva, London, UK (2015) The Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (2012); Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City (2009); Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart (2003).
He was awarded the Golden Bear for best short film at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2011 for Night Fishing and the Hermès Korea Art Award in 2004.
Park graduated from Seoul National University in 1988 with a BFA in Painting, and the California Institute of the Arts with MFA in Photography in 1995. He also served as the Artistic Director of the SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul in 2014.
He lives and works in Seoul, Korea.