TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 16th Gwangju Biennale, one of Asia’s leading contemporary art events, opened Saturday (Sept. 5), featuring a Taiwan Pavilion titled “Instance Dungeons: Gray Zone.”
Founded in 1994 to commemorate the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, the biennale champions human rights, democracy, and community.
Over three decades, the exhibition has evolved into a global platform challenging Western-centric artistic narratives while tackling issues including climate change and social justice.
Singaporean artist and curator Ho Tzu Nyen serves as artistic director for this edition.
A recipient of the Chanel Next Prize, Ho is known for his critiques of Asian modernity and geopolitics, with past presentations at the Venice Biennale, Sao Paulo Art Biennial, and Cannes Film Festival.
Titled “You Must Change Your Life,” in reference to German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the main exhibition features 43 artists and collectives exploring creative practice as a vehicle for transformation.
The main exhibition features Taiwanese performance artist Tehching Hsieh (謝德慶), whose disciplined, yearlong performances turn lived time into creative material. Taiwanese American artist James T. Hong (洪子健) is also featured.
Curated by Chen Hsiang-wen (陳湘汶), former artistic director of the Taipei Digital Art Center, and Lin Hsiao-yu (林曉瑜), the Taiwan Pavilion showcases eight artists and artist duos examining how algorithms, digital interfaces, and virtual spaces reshape contemporary culture and power structures.
Artist Li Yi-fan (李亦凡) joins the pavilion following his presentation “Screen Melancholy” at the 2026 Venice Biennale. His work at Gwangju uses online conspiracy theories to examine whether fabricated information can nevertheless provoke genuine fear and desire.
Chang Wen-hsuan (張紋瑄) connects wartime memories from Taiwan and South Korea while examining the effects of information overload on memory. Cheng Hsien-yu (鄭先喻) uses light beams that track visitors to explore the meaning of attention, observation, and surveillance.
Cheng Ting-Ting (鄭亭亭) examines the distance between mediated images of war and lived experience. Hsu Che-yu (許哲瑜) and Chen Wan-yin (陳琬尹) revisit memories of Taiwan’s former nuclear weapons program.
Juan Po-yuan (阮柏遠) uses artificial intelligence to reconstruct military ruins and historical archives, revealing how algorithms can misread the past. Lin Yu-liang (林瑜亮) examines how information shapes human perception and action.
Su Hui-yu (蘇匯宇) combines cinema and artificial intelligence to revisit collectivism, patriarchy, and national narratives.
