The 5th Jeju Biennale held its opening ceremony on August 24, marking the beginning of an 83-day journey.
 
Organized by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and hosted by the Jeju Museum of Art, the 5th Jeju Biennale, 《Iyahong: The Art of Metamorphosis》, brings together 69 artists and teams from 20 countries. LEE Jong Hoo, Director of the Jeju Museum of Art, serves as the artistic director.
 
The biennale is presented across five venues: the Jeju Museum of Art, Obaekjanggun Gallery at Jeju Stone Park, Jeju Arts Platform, Art Space IAa, and Gallery Remicon.
 
Taking “Iyahong” (the refrain of a Jeju folk song) as its central concept, the Biennale embodies the metamorphic process of flowing, mingling, and being reborn. Through Jeju as an island of metamorphosis, it presents the modes of survival and aesthetics cultivated in the coexistence and symbiosis of things and nature, humans and deities.

The exhibition is divided into three sections: “Human,” “Stone,” and “Deities.”
 
At the Jeju Museum of Art, “Human” takes Chusa Kim Jeong-hui’s exile to Jeju as its point of departure, examining how periods of isolation and disconnection can be transformed into new artistic languages. The first floor focuses on the artistic legacy Chusa developed during his exile on Jeju, while the second floor expands the theme to contemporary issues involving refugees and displaced migrants.
 
“Stone,” presented at Obaekjanggun Gallery at Jeju Stone Park, explores the layers of time and memory embedded in Jeju’s basalt and stone walls.
 
“Deities,” presented across Jeju Arts Platform, Art Space IAa, Gallery Remicon, and other venues in Jeju’s old downtown area, rereads Jeju mythology and communal memory through a contemporary language. In this sense, the entire old downtown area, shaped by generations of local residents’ lives, becomes an exhibition space.

Following the 4th Jeju Biennale, which explored Jeju’s connections with southern cultures through the theme of “drifting,” the 5th Jeju Biennale expands its focus northward to examine another current through which Jeju civilization has evolved.
 
Artistic Director LEE Jong Hoo explained, “While the previous biennale examined Jeju’s connections with southern cultures through drifting, this edition seeks to explore the historical links between Jeju and northern cultures through exile, mythology, and stone culture. Through the ‘art of metamorphosis’ created as different cultures have mingled and converged in Jeju, we aim to speak about the coexistence of humans and nature.”

References

• 제주비엔날레 (Jeju Biennale)