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2mo ago

Korean Pavilion Confirms ‘Liberation Space: Fortress/Nest’ With New Works and Japan Collaboration at Venice Biennale

The project turns the glass-walled venue into a reflective environment rooted in Korea’s past upheavals, with a focus on civic memory.

Binna Choi, artistic director for Korea at the 2026 Venice Biennale, speaks during a press conference at the Arts Council Korea on March 19, 2026. (Yonhap)
Artistic Director Binna Choi (L), Choi Go-en (C) and Ro Hye-ree attend a press conference at the Arts Council Korea on March 19, 2026. (Yonhap)
Image
This photo, provided by the Arts Council Korea, shows Han Kang's "The Funeral." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Overview

  • At a Seoul press conference, artistic director Binna Choi detailed the Korean Pavilion’s 2026 concept, confirming artists Choi Go-en (Choi Go-eun) and Ro Hye-ree (Noh Hye-ri) and the exhibition title, “Liberation Space: Fortress/Nest.”
  • Choi’s site-specific installation “Meridian” uses split and rerouted copper piping and other industrial elements to pierce the pavilion’s structure and trace unseen flows, reopening blocked channels between body and architecture.
  • Ro’s “Bearing” envelops the pavilion in translucent fabric to form eight stations for reflection on mourning, memory and waiting, featuring contributions from fellows and Han Kang’s sculpture “The Funeral” of blackened trees drawn from a dream linked to her novel We Do Not Part.
  • The curatorial frame connects Korea’s 1945–48 post-liberation turbulence with recent domestic strain, including a failed martial law declaration, positioning the pavilion as a space for collective reckoning.
  • The pavilion will pursue a rare cooperative gesture with the neighboring Japanese Pavilion, and reporting places the Biennale’s run from May to November 2026, with differing opening dates noted (May 6 or May 9).