Gangwon International Triennale 2024
Ecological Art from Beneath: Gangwon, Learning from Ant Tunnels
September 26 to October 27, 2024
Gangwon Triennale is the only Nomadic Triennale among the art exhibitions in South Korea. It aims to create and share artworks that can only be expressed within Gangwon Province by utilizing the culture, history, and landscape of 18 cities and counties in Gangwon Province, and to add a depth of experience and exchanges with residents and an appreciation of the works of art in nature. It seeks an engagement with various art forms and experiences and alternative methods of knowledge production and distribution. Also, the Gangwon Triennale seeks to support local and regional contemporary artists and facilitate the creation and realization of projects and forge interaction. The upcoming Gangwon International Triennale 2024 is the completion of a three-year event under the theme of ‘High Land of Art, Pyeongchang. It will take place in the beautiful fall in Pyeongchang, where Woljeongsa Temple, a thousand-year-old temple, is located.
According to ecosystem and ecology researchers, ant tunnels, a habitat of ant communities, serve as an important ventilator when discharging warm air from above-ground to underground. Yet, because of their location and size, they are mostly kept hidden and invisible to human civilization. Inspired by the symbolic meanings of ant tunnels, known for their alternative, microscopic perspective, and the organic social structure of anti-communities, this year’s Triennale seeks to look at ecological art from the perspective of shifting attitudes, entailing the redefinition of the relationships between humans and nature, humans and humans, and the local and the global.
The exhibition takes place in five locations around Jinbu Station in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do (the region famous for South Korea’s parks and scenic landscapes on the eastern shore of the Korean Peninsula). The Gangwon Triennale, established in 2013, stands out as one of the most influential international events in South Korea on ecological art. It is held in a region boasting the highest mountain ranges and ski resorts, which hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
ARTISTS
Ahn Jaehong (Canada-Germany), Ahn Jonghyun (Korea), Ana Mendieta (Cuba-USA), Bosco Sodi (Mexico), Bui Cong Khanh (Vietnam), Chen Xi (China), Cho Youngjoo (Korea), Dennis Oppenheim (USA), Duy-Phuong Le Nguyen (Vietnam), Eelkwon Robert Kim (Korea), George Osodi (Nigeria), Ham Hyekyung (Korea), Han Seokkyung (Korea), Heo Taewon (Korea), Im Sangbin (Korea), Jang Hanna (Korea), Joanna Rajkowska (Poland-UK), Jo Eunmi (Korea), Jung Jungyeob (Korea), Jung Seunghae (Korea), Jung Yeondoo (Korea), Kanain (Korea-UK), Kim Jisoo (Korea), Kim Oksun (Korea), Ken & Julia Yonetani (Japan-Australia), Le Phi Long (Vietnam), Lee Jiyen (Korea), Li Binyuan (China), Lim Seungkyun (Korea), Lim Yoonkyung (Korea), Mary Mattingly (USA), Nana & Felix (Korea – Finland), Ngoc Nau (Vietnam), Oh Soonmi (Korea), Oh Youkyeong (Korea), Parastou Forouhar (Iran-Germany), Park Munhee (Korea), Regina José Galindo (Guatemala), Rivane Neuenschwander and Cao Guimarães (Brazil), Ryu Biho (Korea), Saba Khan of Pak Khawateen Painting Club (Pakistan-UK), Sander Wassink (Netherlands), Shin Gyungjin (Korea), Studio 1750 (Korea), Sugisaki Haruna (Japan), Son Son Son (Korea), Tatiana Wolska (Poland-Belgium), Tomas Saraceno (Argentina-Germany), Yee Sookyung (Korea), Yo-E Ryou (Korea)
SPECIAL EXHIBITION: Austria Künstlerhaus Exhibition
Curator: Tanya Prušnik