Gwangju Biennale permits Taiwan Pavilion name after row
The artists and curator behind the pavilion had said its name was changed to NTMoFA without their consent, while the biennial says it had been agreed in January
After ten days of conflicting reports and accusations of censorship, the Gwangju Biennale Foundation (GBF) has conceded that the upcoming 16th Gwangju Biennale's satellite exhibition can display as the Taiwan Pavilion instead of the earlier designation tied to the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA). The GBF announced the agreement with Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture in a statement to The Art Newspaper.
Taiwan's Ministry of Culture subsequently sent an official letter to NTMoFA confirming the pavilion's official title. This letter serves as official confirmation that NTMoFA is participating in the Gwangju Biennale Pavilion project and authorizes the use of the name "Taiwan Pavilion." The GBF then sent the official request to the pavilion's host, Gwangju’s Asia Culture Center (ACC), granting approval for the presentation to proceed.
Recent Korean media reports had depicted a barrier outside the pavilion's venue at ACC, following claims from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture that the installation process was halted due to the naming dispute. Public disagreements erupted in August when the biennale posted a poster listing its satellite pavilions, which listed a NTMoFA Pavilion.
The pavilion's curator and nine participating artists later revealed on Instagram that their "exhibition proposal submitted by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts under the name Taiwan Pavilion and accepted as such by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, was unilaterally renamed NTMoFA, without the consent of the participating team, and brutally erased Taiwan from the poster."
This claim was perceived as a threat to freedom of expression and the global artistic community. The GBF clarified in an August 19 statement that they had not intervened in, or censored, exhibition planning or content. They categorize Pavilion participants as either national pavilions or institutional pavilions, requiring participants seeking a national pavilion title to submit an official letter of approval from the relevant embassy or ministry of culture.
Gwangju City's officials have recently reiterated their support for the "One China Policy" after the Biennale's featured exhibition will explore grassroots communities in Jeonnam Gwangju.
Written by urgent.news from The Art Newspaper's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
