Cai Guo-qiang – China/USA: Born in 1957 in Fujian, China, Cai Guo-qiang has shown his work to international acclaim since the early 1990s. Now living in New York he regularly has major solo exhibitions at leading museums around the world. Often using traditional Chinese materials and symbols, like gun-powder, the power of the simple ink-brush, or Maoist period sculpture, his works are often huge constructions that confront the audience with their sheer scale, daring, dynamism and showmanship. He is saying that the role of the artist is to dream large and create works that take the viewer into another scale of experience. He first showed a major gun-powder work at the Queensland Art Gallery in 1996, and in 2013 the same gallery hosted a major solo show that recreated leaping wolves in a swirl of primal energy, and a Noah's ark of animals all lapping water from a communal pond. Official website of the artist.
Kim Hong-hee – South Korea: Kim Hong-hee has played an important role in the development of Korean contemporary art through her various roles as art historian, art critic, and curator. Currently she is the Director of Seoul Museum of Art, after being Director of Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art and the founding Director of Samzie Space, at the time the leading contemporary art space in Seoul. She has worked on many international art biennales, written many books on contemporary art and museum practice, spoken at conferences around the world, and worked on various projects with Australian colleagues.