The Gwangju Biennale, founded in 1995, is the oldest contemporary art biennial in Asia and one of the most significant international art events in the region. Closely connected to the history of Gwangju and the city’s democratic legacy, the Biennale has become an important platform for contemporary artistic practices from around the world.
The 16th Gwangju Biennale will take place from 5 September to 15 November 2026 under the title “You Must Change Your Life.” Taking its inspiration from the final line of Rainer Maria Rilke’s 1908 poem Archaic Torso of Apollo, this edition considers transformation not as a fixed destination, but as an ongoing process shaped through artistic practice, perception, relationships, and everyday life. The Biennale is led by Artistic Director Ho Tzu Nyen – Singaporean visual artist and curator, with curators Che Kyongfa, Gahee Park, and Brian Kuan Wood.
Among the international presentations, Poland will be represented by the Polish Pavilion with Rites of Passage, opening on 5 September 2026. Curated by Paulina Olszewska, the exhibition explores moments of transition — the spaces between one stage of life and another, between what has already ended and what is yet to come. Its conceptual starting point is Han Kang’s The White Book, written partly during the Nobel Prize-winning author’s residency in Warsaw.
The exhibition brings together artists from Poland and Korea: Alicja Bielawska, Urszula Broll, Inside Job (Ula Lucińska and Michał Knychaus), Park Saengkwang, Yeesookyung, and Anna Zaradny. Through installation, sculpture, sound, video, and other forms, Rites of Passage creates an immersive journey around transformation, uncertainty, spirituality, memory, and the rituals through which individuals and societies navigate change.
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Alicja Bielawska, Materials of Time, ceramic. Courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale -
Anna Zaradny in Quality Studio, photo by Kuba Celej. Courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale -
Inside Job. Photo by Weronika Pawlak. Courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale -
Yeesookyung, Portable temple 2023, Black Tara (detail, left panel),. Courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale -
Urszula Broll, Composition, 1985, oil on canvas, courtesy of the artist’s estate. Courtesy of the Gwangju Biennale -
