Arts Council Korea has announced the program for Korea’s national pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale. Titled “Liberation Space: Fortress/Nest” and directed by curator Binna Choi, the exhibition will feature lead artists Goen Choi and Hyeree Ro alongside works by a range of creators from different artistic and activistic practices.

The show takes its theme from Korea’s postwar “Liberation Space,” the period between the end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945 and the establishment of separate governments in 1948. According to a statement from the pavilion, the presentation will be “transformed into a living monument” to this historical period, addressing “successive liberatory practices and new world-making.” 

Choi will present Meridian, a work utilizing copper pipes that extend beyond the Korean Pavilion into the adjacent Japanese Pavilion, marking the first collaborative project between the two nations’ pavilions. “Liberation, in the Korean context, cannot be separated from its historical relationship with Japan,” Choi stated.

Ro will present an installation titled Bearing, which envelops the pavilion in a translucent, wax-coated membrane housing eight stations designed by various creators, including novelist Kang Han, the 2024 Nobel laureate in literature, whose installation Funeral (2018) will be presented at the “Mourning Station” within the pavilion.

The 61st edition of the Venice Biennale will run from May 9 to November 22.

Aisha Traub Chan is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.