Korea | 15th Gwangju Biennale

For its 30th anniversary, the 15th Gwangju Biennale gathers 73 artists from 30 countries, from 7 September to 1 December 2024 in Gwangju, Korea.

The theme ‘Pansori – a soundscape of the 21st century’ draws a topology of the Anthropocene, where the spatial figures of climate change will be addressed through three sections, each corresponding to a sonic phenomenon. Visitors will follow a simple narrative—from the human density of urban space to the non-human worlds, either microscopic or cosmic. From a saturated planet to the search for the ‘big outdoors’.

Echoing to the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall, art projects will also be implemented in diverse locations (institutions, cafés, public spaces, parks, alternative art spaces, shops, and others) in Gwangju. For the duration of the Biennale, the city will be orchestrated with madangs, ‘individual songs’ of pansori, as musical or sonic projects that mix sound and visual elements.

Pansori, a soundscape of the 21st century is an attempt to map the complexity of the contemporary world. Conflictual borders, anti-migration walls, confinement, social distance, segregation policies and more. These seemingly dissimilar topics share a common point, which is space and its political organisation. The main effect of climate change is the apparition of a new topology, a new world map in which carbon dioxide and urban life, desertification and migration, deforestation and social struggles, destruction of animal ecosystems and vegetal invasions, all have become brutally interconnected.

The 2024 Gwangju Biennale Pavilion will feature over 30 participants (institutions, individuals, and collectives). Participants from countries such as Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Viet Nam, and more, creating a vibrant space for communication and exchange.

See the full programme