City of Gwangju Attributes Biennale’s Taiwan Pavilion Controversy to ‘Insufficient Communication’

The South Korean city of Gwangju has issued an apology for controversy that surrounded the Gwangju Biennale’s Taiwan Pavilion, whose name was initially altered in promotional materials for the show, only to be returned to its current name following an outcry from its participants.

The Taiwan Pavilion, one of many national pavilions that appears alongside the biennial’s main exhibition, was at one point billed as the NTMoFA Pavilion, a reference to the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, which organizes it. Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture alleged that the Gwangju Biennale had committed “political censorship” through the renaming.

Having faced an open letter from artists showing in the pavilion, the Gwangju Biennale then retitled the presentation. Furthermore, the biennial denied that the renaming was meant to satiate China, which also has a pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale and which does not recognize Taiwan as a nation.

In response, China last week ordered its pavilion’s artists not to show at the Gwangju Biennale and halted work on their presentation.

On Monday, Jeonnam Gwangju City sought to patch things over by suggesting that the Taiwan Pavilion’s name did not indicate a “change in the position of respecting one China.”

“The title of the Taiwan pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale is merely an expression entrusted to participating artists within the realm of art, and it does not mean that the city or the Biennale recognizes Taiwan as a country,” Jeonnam Gwangju City said.

In its statement, the city also added, “We deeply apologize for the controversy that arose regarding the 16th Gwangju Biennale pavilions due to insufficient communication between the Gwangju Biennale and participating institutions.”

This year’s edition of the Gwangju Biennale, widely regarded as the most important recurring art festival in Asia, opens on September 5.