Special Exhibition "All Islands Are Mountains" for the 30th Anniversary of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale by 39 Korean Artists

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The special exhibition commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale will be held at the Venice Malta Knights of Malta Priory. Eight institutions and over 50 artists will participate to showcase the essence of Korean art.

Jeong Byeong-guk, Chairman of the Korea Arts & Culture Commission, is giving a greeting at the "2024 Venice Biennale 60th Art Exhibition Linked Korean Art Joint Press Conference" held on the 31st at the Artists' House in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 31st, the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service (Chairman Jeong Byeong-guk, hereafter Arts Council Korea) announced the exhibition plans at a joint press conference for the special exhibition "Every Island is a Mountain," commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which opens on April 18.

Since its inception in 1985 and held biennially, the Venice Biennale marks its 60th edition this year and will open on April 17, 2023, under the theme "Foreigners everywhere." This year, Korea, led by the Arts Council Korea, will for the first time conduct the entire exhibition jointly between public and private sectors.

Four official parallel exhibitions selected by the Venice Biennale Foundation (Gwangju Biennale, Yoo Youngkuk Art Foundation, Korean Modern and Contemporary Art Research Foundation, Hansol Cultural Foundation) and two exhibitions held in Venice (Gallery Hyundai, Nine Dragon Heads) will take place locally.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Korean Pavilion, Arts Council Korea will hold a special exhibition titled "Every Island is a Mountain" at the Venice Malta Knights of Malta Priory, featuring around 30 artists (teams) who have participated in past Korean Pavilion exhibitions since 1995, showcasing their works from early pieces to new creations. The exhibition theme "Every Island is a Mountain" evokes the image of underwater landscapes connecting individually existing islands like mountain ranges beneath the sea.

The special exhibition was planned by the Arko Art Center (Director Im Geun-hye), under the Arts Council Korea, together with specialized curators for each section. It will open simultaneously with the 2024 Venice Biennale main exhibition and the Korean Pavilion exhibition and will run for five months at the Knights of Malta Priory. This medieval building, constructed in the 12th century near San Marco Square, served as the headquarters for the knights who participated in the Crusades and has recently been used for medical support and refugee relief activities. The priory, which maintains the original structure from the early 16th century, features a courtyard with cloisters and a well at its center, along with a spacious 3,000㎡ garden space renowned for its sense of openness.

Jung Byung-guk (left), Chairman of the Korea Arts and Culture Committee, is giving a greeting at the '2024 Venice Biennale 60th Art Exhibition Linked Korean Art Joint Press Conference' held at the Artist's House in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 31st.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

From April 17 to September 8, with sponsorship from Hyundai Motor Company, Arts Council Korea will present works and archives of 38 artists who have participated in past Venice Biennales at the Malta Priory, while the Korean Pavilion will host a solo exhibition by artist Gu Jeong-a. Details of the Korean Pavilion exhibition will be announced separately at the end of February.

The outdoor exhibition in the garden will feature installation works conveying messages of ecology and peace, along with a "Transparent Pavilion," a space for rest and sharing.

The outdoor exhibition will include Jeong Seo-young’s "Evidence" (2014), which declaratively presents a scene where body, objects, and plants are entangled in a single pose at the entrance. It will also showcase Kwak Hoon’s "Fear/Sound - What Marco Polo Could Not Bring" (1995), an installation in the form of Onggi pottery accompanied by daegeum (Korean bamboo flute) performances and Buddhist nun performances that caused a sensation during the opening of the Korean Pavilion in 1995. Kang Ik-jung’s new work "Arirang" (2024), composed of hundreds of drawings by displaced persons, and Choi Jeong-hwa’s nATuReNuRture (2023), made by collecting marine debris from Korea’s west and south coasts and stacking it like stone towers, will communicate the urgency of artistic practice and solidarity in response to the global ecological crisis.

On the opening day of the exhibition, April 18, at 6 PM local time in Venice, the courtyard of the Malta Knights Priory will host the "Hyundai Night in celebration of Korean Art" event. The opening performance will commemorate the late Nam June Paik, who played a decisive role in establishing the Korean Pavilion.

Artist Koo Jeong A of the Korea Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, 'Density.' [Photo provided by PKM Gallery]

The four exhibitions officially selected as parallel exhibitions of the Venice Biennale will also run during the main exhibition period. Marking its 30th anniversary, the Gwangju Biennale will hold a special archive exhibition titled "The Yard - Where We Become," envisioning the future of a sustainable human community. Held at the Il Giardino Bianco Art Space in Venice, Italy, this exhibition will feature Nam June Paik’s representative work "Dolmen" and Kcho’s "To Forget," the award-winning piece from the first Gwangju Biennale.

Jeong Byeong-guk, Chairman of the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, said, "This year’s Venice Biennale will be a place where international attention on Korean art is more focused than ever. We expect this exhibition to highlight the diversity and dynamism of Korean art centered on the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which has served as a foothold for the globalization of Korean art, and to present a new vision for the Korean Pavilion in response to social changes after the pandemic."