Gwangju Biennale Unveils You Must Change Your Life Theme
The 16th Gwangju Biennale has chosen its theme: You must change your life. The announcement was made at a press briefing in Seoul on September 13, with the festival scheduled to run from September 5 to November 15 at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall in Gwangju, South Korea.
Ho Chuni-en, the artistic director, framed the theme around change as a lived, historical force in Gwangju, a city linked to Korea’s democratic history. He noted that the city’s changes are not abstract but part of a continuing story, citing the Gwangju Democratization Movement and the everyday acts of citizens who supported one another during that period.
In keeping with a deliberate, intimate approach, the Biennale will feature its smallest頭count of participating artists to date. Rather than a large-scale lineup, the curators intend to illuminate how a few artists’ practices unfold over time, enabling a denser, more sustained encounter between works and viewers.
Among the showcased works, Korean artists Kwon Byung-jun and Park Chan-kyung will present a piece rooted in the local shamanic rite known as soegeollip. Titled Bulrim, it uses metal donated by residents of Gwangju and nearby regions, melted into ritual objects and reassembled as a sound installation that returns to the community.
Jacqueline Kiomi Gook contributes a project that combines air-pressure and feedback systems to create a maze-like structure accompanied by techno-infused sound. The work emphasizes sensory engagement and architectural perception within an experimental framework.
Nam Hwa-yeon’s contribution traces women’s religious devotion and evolving subjectivity during Korea’s encounter with Western learning in the 18th century, presenting a multi-layered exploration of time and agency within the social and historical context of Joseon-era Korea.
The Biennale is co-curated by Park Ga-hee, Brian Kuan Wood, and Choi Kyung-hwa, alongside Ho Chuni-en. The event is described as exploring how repeated artistic practice shapes worldviews and daily life, offering visitors potential spaces for change over its 72-day run.
For U.S. audiences, the Biennale matters beyond Korea as a window into contemporary Asian art discourse, memory politics, and cultural exchange. Its emphasis on focused, time-based artistic practice aligns with global curatorial trends and may influence how American museums collaborate with Korean and East Asian artists, fundraisers, and visiting exhibitions. It also highlights how cultural events in Korea intersect with broader topics of democracy, community memory, and international art markets.