The 2025 Sea Art Festival, titled "Undercurrents: Waves Walking on the Water," is co-directed by Keumhwa Kim and Bernard Vienat, who were selected via an international open call. The biennial, established in 1987 as part of the Seoul Olympic Games, takes place on the beaches of Busan, Korea, alternating between Dadaepo Beach and Songdo. This year it returns to Dadaepo, focusing on outdoor installations and sculptures that engage with the natural landscape. The festival emphasizes collaboration with local communities and scientists, including paleontologists and bioacoustic researchers, to highlight invisible ecological and social structures.
This edition matters because it represents a shift toward more accessible, environmentally conscious art that operates outside traditional institutional frameworks. By prioritizing sensory experiences and community participation, the festival offers a complementary alternative to indoor biennials like the Busan Biennale. Its focus on recovering invisible entities and fostering dialogue between art, nature, and science underscores a growing trend in contemporary art toward ecological awareness and social engagement, making it a significant model for outdoor art events globally.