On May 9, the Korean Pavilion exhibition 《Liberation Space: Fortress/Nest》 at the 61st Venice Biennale was unveiled. The exhibition is curated by artistic director Binna Choi and features works by artists Hyeree Ro and Goen Choi.
 
The Korean Pavilion is one of the 30 permanent national pavilions representing 32 countries located in the Giardini of the Venice Biennale, and it opened in 1995 as the 26th pavilion. Drawing on this historical and spatial context, the exhibition presents the sensibilities of modern Korean history alongside contemporary modes of thought to an international audience.
 
The exhibition frames the Korean Pavilion as a temporary monument to “liberation space,” understood both as a historical transitional moment and as an ongoing site of movement. Artistic director Binna Choi focuses on the pavilion’s contrasting qualities—as a “fortress” associated with boundaries and defense, and as a “nest” that shelters and nurtures life. Through the sculptural installations and performative practices of the two participating artists, the exhibition reexamines the relationships between body, space, and material.

Goen Choi presents Meridian, a sculptural installation using copper pipes to evoke the flows of body and space suggested by meridians and energy channels, while Hyeree Ro expands the notions of support, transition, and coexistence into a performative practice through Bearing, composed of an organza-structured 움/막 (shelter) and eight stations.
 
At each station, performers selected through an open call carry out specific rituals daily throughout the exhibition period, transforming the Korean Pavilion from a fixed exhibition site into a space where movement and relationships continuously emerge.
 
The exhibition also broadens the pavilion’s sense of movement and solidarity as a monument to liberation space by inviting not only fellow artists but also creators and activists from diverse cultural and social fields as fellows. The invited fellows include activist-farmer Huju Kim, writer and singer Lang Lee, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Han Kang, photographer Yezoi Hwang, and artist Christian Nyampeta.
 
Their contributions are either included in Liberation Space: Reader (1) or installed within the stations that constitute Bearing.

Liberation Space: Reader (1) forms a key component of the exhibition. The publication includes the artistic director’s curatorial notes, conversations between the artists and fellows, as well as writings and images contributed by the fellows. It also features essays by sociologist Avery F. Gordon and Native Hawaiian scholar, poet, and activist Jamaica Osorio.
 
In her essay, Avery F. Gordon examines the historical “liberation space” of Korea through the lens of the Yeosu–Suncheon Incident, expanding its interpretations and meanings. Meanwhile, Jamaica Osorio redefines the concepts of “liberation” and “sovereignty” through the ideas of care and sanctuary. The publication can be accessed at the “Sharing Station” within the exhibition space and is also available through the exhibition website(https://pavilion2024dev.github.io).

The Korean Pavilion is also presenting the first-ever collaboration between the only two Asian national pavilions in the Giardini: the Korean and Japanese Pavilions. Beginning with a joint breakfast event during Art Basel Hong Kong last March, the collaboration continues through exhibition-based works and performance programs.
 
In connection with the Japanese Pavilion exhibition 《Grass Babies, Moon Babies》, part of Goen Choi’s Meridian extends into the Japanese Pavilion site, crossing the grove that functions as a boundary between the two national pavilions. In addition, a “Liberation Space Monument” guide is stationed within the Japanese Pavilion, expanding the visitor pathway into part of the Korean Pavilion exhibition.
 
Meanwhile, the “bearer” performing Hyeree Ro’s Bearing takes a baby doll—one of the central elements of the Japanese Pavilion exhibition—on a daily walk to the Korean Pavilion, circulating through the eight stations that compose Bearing.
 
Regarding the exhibition, Lee Bum-Hun, Chairperson of the Arts Council Korea, stated that it is “an attempt to expand the historical context of modern Korean history through the concept of ‘liberation space’ into a contemporary sensibility and to share it within the international art scene.” He added that “rather than remaining a singular outcome, the exhibition proposes new possibilities for the Korean Pavilion through its expansion into performance, collaboration, and networks.”

References

• 베니스비엔날레 한국관 2026 (Korean Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale 2026)
• 한국문화예술위원회 보도자료 (Arts Council Korea Press Release)