The 1st World Biennial Forum is an international convention, the first of its kind for biennale organizers and related professionals that will take place in Gwangju, South Korea coinciding with Roundtable - the 9th Gwangju Biennale (September 7 - November 11, 2012). It is supported by the Asia-Europe Foundation as part of the programme Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe. ASEF's Cultural Exchange Director, Sabina Santarossa, will be present during the 2-day event, and the culture360.org correspondent Veerangana Solanki will report about the forum. The 1st World Biennial Forum serves as a forum for exchange, providing an opportunity for critical reflection upon the fact that over 150 biennials for art and related disciplines are currently being organized all over the world: a world with many cultural centers that are characterized by rapidly changing socio-economic, and political situations. This reality creates new challenges in the field of producing and curating contemporary art while it has affected various societies across the globe. The 1st World Biennial Forum will dedicate special attention to Asia as its context and as a continent. The 1st World Biennial Forum is aimed for all those who are involved with them: curating, organizing, and supporting international biennials. Conceived as an informal meeting point, the 1st World Biennial Forum will present talks by well-known speakers from a wide range of backgrounds and fields, and also offer workshops and smaller specialized sessions in order to address day-to-day matters that concern those who engage with biennials on a professional level, including those who represent and fund them. World Biennial Forum No 1. Gwangju, South Korea, 27-31 October 2012 Initiated by: Biennial Foundation Organized by: Gwangju Biennale Foundation & Biennial Foundation & ifa Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Co-directed by: Ute Meta Bauer and Hou Hanru Supported by the Gwangju Metropolitan City Government and by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and Arts Network Asia (ANA) as part of the programme Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe. Source: Biennal Foundation