The 1st World Biennial Forum, an initiative by the Biennial Foundation, is supported by the Asia-Europe Foundation as part of its programme Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe. The Forum is organised by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, the Biennial Foundation and Ifa Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen.
The first edition of the World Biennial Forum was successfully completed in the framework of the 9th Gwangju Biennale in the Republic of Korea (27-31 October 2012). Over 150 contemporary art biennale organisations operating around the globe were connected through this independent platform. The World Biennial Forum is the first convention of its kind for biennale organisers. It enables practitioners from various biennale initiatives to meet and exchange ideas on common practices and shared expertise, as well as to discuss the foremost topics and concerns in the arena.
The Forum, entitled Shifting Gravity, was directed by Ute Meta Bauer and Hou Hanru. Discussions and case studies on a wide range of biennales across Asia were introduced in order to broaden the understanding of specific contexts, as well as the conditions of production and the conceptual discourses which they generate.