Jung Youngsun's Landscape Architecture Exhibition Opens in Venice, Italy

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Presents Jung Youngsun Landscape Architecture Exhibition in Italy
Overseas Touring Exhibition "For All That Breathes on This Land"
On View Until July 13

The overseas touring exhibition of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's first-ever landscape architecture exhibition, "Jung Youngsun: For All That Breathes on This Land," titled "For All That Breathes on This Land: Jung Youngsun and Collaborators," is being held at the San Marco Art Center (SMAC) in Venice, Italy, until July 13.

Exhibition view ? Kim Yonggwan, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

This exhibition is a special opening exhibition for the San Marco Art Center and was organized at the invitation of the center to commemorate the Korea-Italy Year of Mutual Cultural Exchange (2024-2025). The San Marco Art Center, where the exhibition is taking place, is a historic venue that was originally the Procuratie, a 16th-century Venetian administrative building, and has been renovated by British architect David Chipperfield.

The exhibition centers on the work of Jung Youngsun (born 1941), who has focused on "resilience" and "sustainability," and introduces, for the first time in Italy, the unique philosophy of Korean gardens and landscapes, as well as the history of landscape architecture that parallels Korea's modern and contemporary history. David Chipperfield, the 2023 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture, is participating as a collaborator in this exhibition.

The exhibition presents more than 300 archival materials, including drawings, models, photographs, and videos, of 24 representative works by landscape architect Jung Youngsun, such as "Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail" (2015-2017), "Yeouido Saetgang Ecological Park" (1997, 2008), and "Seonyudo Park" (2001). It also features videos and photographs of the process and landscapes, including giraffe paintings by Jung Dawoon and Kim Jongshin, as well as photographs by Kim Yonggwan, Yang Haenam, Jung Jihyun, and Shin Kyungseop.

The exhibition is organized into seven themes according to the nature of the works, including public projects, gardens and resorts commissioned by private companies, monumental landscape architecture, ecological parks, and the unique culture of Korean gardens. The seven rooms, each reflecting a theme, are designed with inspiration from the traditional Korean wooden pavilion, or "nu (樓)," elevating the act of viewing the exhibition into an experience akin to enjoying the scenery from a traditional Korean pavilion.

In addition, participatory educational programs that were held at the Seoul branch last year will also be available to visitors at the San Marco Art Center. Visitors can experience "The Times of the Garden," where they can design their own gardens and observe seasonal changes in plants; "Breathing Names," which introduces native Korean plants; and the meditation program "Time of the Mind, Time of Nature."

Kim Sunghui, director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, stated that this exhibition, held to coincide with the opening of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, "will be a great opportunity to showcase to the world the originality of Korean garden and landscape philosophy, which embodies the inherent beauty of nature, and to introduce the breathtaking scenery of our land cultivated by Jung Youngsun and her collaborators."

Meanwhile, "Jung Youngsun: For All That Breathes on This Land," held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul last year, recorded approximately 280,000 visitors. The exhibition design also became the first among Korean museums and art museums to win the Best of the Best in the Brand Communication category at the German "Red Dot Design Award 2024."