Gyeonggi Province is hosting the ‘2026 DMZ OPEN Festival’ from October 12 to November 29 at Paju Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri and locations across Goyang.
 
Under the theme “Open the Line, Connect the Life,” this year’s festival seeks to open the Line of the DMZ, a symbol of division and borders, to connect people with one another and everyday life with the wider world, creating new currents of peace.
 
The main programs include ▲DMZ OPEN Exhibition, which reinterprets the DMZ through artistic perspectives; ▲DMZ OPEN International Music Festival, which conveys messages of peace and harmony through music; and ▲DMZ OPEN Eco Peace Forum, where experts from Korea and abroad discuss ways to promote peaceful coexistence.

First, the DMZ OPEN Exhibition will run from October 12 to November 29, primarily at Paju Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri. This year’s exhibition reinterprets the DMZ not as a space of control and division, but as a complex stage of relationships, or “STAGING,” where narratives of memory, ecology, and coexistence remain alive.
 
Fourteen artists from Korea and abroad—including Ahn Kyuchul, Sun Mu, Abigail Raphael Collins, Suyeon Yun, Denise Bertschi, Jinyeong Yeon, Choi Gene Uk, Heinkuhn Oh, Park Chan-kyong, and Kahee Jeong—will present diverse artworks exploring the history and ecology of the DMZ, as well as themes of memory and coexistence.
 
The DMZ OPEN International Music Festival will be held four times from October 23 to 25 at Aram Music Hall at Goyang Aram Nuri. Under this year’s theme, “PACE: Returning to Peace,” the festival will unfold a musical narrative in four parts: “Pulse (The Pulse of a Beginning),” “Awaken (Peace Awakening),” “Connect (Hearts Connected),” and “Eternity (Peace That Continues).”

On October 28, the DMZ OPEN Eco Peace Forum will be held at Sono Calm Goyang under the overarching theme “Opening the Way to Peaceful Coexistence.”
 
This year’s forum is jointly organized by Gyeonggi Province, the Ministry of Unification, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and is expected to bring together around 350 participants, including experts from Korea and abroad and Gyeonggi residents.
 
In the keynote session, Valérie Gelézeau, a professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in France, will deliver the keynote address and take part in a conversation with the heads of the three co-hosting organizations.
 
In the afternoon, two peace sessions hosted respectively by the Ministry of Unification and the foundation will be held in succession to discuss the value of the DMZ and peaceful coexistence. Gyeonggi Province will host the “Northeast Asia Smart Eco-City Seminar” as part of the ecology session.
 
Park Hyun-seok, Director General of the Gyeonggi Province Peace and Cooperation Bureau, said, “We hope that through art, music, and international dialogue, people will have opportunities to experience the ecological and peaceful values of the DMZ in their everyday lives, and that these values will serve as a catalyst for connecting the DMZ with the wider world.”
 
Further information on the DMZ OPEN Festival’s programs and how to participate is available on the festival’s official Instagram account (@dmzopen_official).

References

• 경기도 보도자료 (Gyeonggi Province Press Release)