We are extremely proud to have been invited by the Gwangju Biennale to participate in its 15th edition. The group exhibition Important Questions is an independent contribution from The Netherlands and will take place at the ‘UNION Pavilion’ at the Eunam Museum of Art.
The project is a collaboration between P/////AKT and artist Marc Oosting, who was invited by Dusu Choi (head of the exhibition department of the 15th Gwangju Biennale) to curate a pavilion for biennale’s 2024 edition. Being an artist himself, Dusu Choi strongly believes in organizing exhibitions and events from the perspective of artists. This belief echo’s the history of the Gwangju Biennale with Nam June Paik as one of the founders and driving forces behind the its beginning in 1995.
The title of the 15th Gwangju Biennale is Pansori, a soundscape of the 21st century. Pansori is a traditional and folkloristic form of musical storytelling started as amusement for the lower classes. In Korean, pansori means “the noise from the public place”. For the 15th Gwangju Biennale the concept of Pansori will be used metaphorically to describe humanity’s relationship with itself, the living forms surrounding us and the non-human world on a macro and micro level. Important Questions supplements to the overall theme of Pansori by focusing on art as relational space and providing a situation for unexpected encounters. In an unstable world suffering from the effects of climate change, a growing human population, reduced biodiversity, war and ever-increasing inequality, space is becoming the most sought-after resource and commodity. Art doesn’t automatically have to be political in the eyes of its maker and its audience. But art takes place in a space that is economically and politically organized, and as such, art cannot deny its own platform and agency.
Important Questions is a group exhibition that can be read as a temporary collective installation that uses the art-object and audience dynamic. There is an ambition in understanding and there is a resistance in knowing, this goes for both artists and the audience. Art is widely accepted as a vehicle for knowledge production, messaging and education of the public. Institutional forces embrace art and artistic initiatives that refer to a socially critical subtext. Biennales play a major role in guiding audiences and their conception of art, directly or indirectly. It is within this context that Important Questions questions how messaging, consumption and quantifiability can be aligned with a creative process driven by play, intuition, curiosity and desire.
Important Questions is made possible by the kind support of the Gwangju Biennale, the Eunam Museum of Art and the Mondriaan Fund.
