For its 30th anniversary, the 15th Gwangju Biennale PANSORI: A Soundscape of the 21st Century, gathers 72 artists from 30 countries, including Frida Orupabo. The biennale, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, is an attempt to map the complexity of the contemporary world. Dating back to the 17th century, pansori is a Korean musical genre anchored in its native territory, a symbol of the relationships between sound and space.
The 15th Gwangju Biennale intends to recreate the original spirit of pansori, presenting artists who explore contemporary space through dialogue with the living forms around them. Art, too, is a specific place, one which allows us to re-think the space shared between humans, machines, animals, spirits, and organic life — our relational space. Orupabo presents a series of collages and prints that are a part of her ongoing practice. Images of body parts are spliced and weaved into new contexts; for example in Becoming a woman (2023), the head of a Black woman with long hair floats within the exhibition space. An element of the absurd and surreal through image manipulations points to the conditions of bodily agency and challenging of traditional narratives and stereotypes.
15th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud
September 7 – December 1, 2024
Runo Lagomarsino
Inseparable Distance
Swedish Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea
September 7 – December 1, 2024
In honor of Sweden’s 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Korea, curator Ulrika Flink and commissioner Eva Livijn present the inaugural Swedish Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale. The pavilion features nine Swedish-based artists, including Runo Lagomarsino, who explore humanity’s intersection and proximity with the natural world through diverse media, offering ecological insights, cultural critique, and visions of the future.
Lagomarsino’s A Country’s Landscape, deals with tensions inherent to the notions of identity and citizenship. When Lagomarsino was doing research for a public commission in the harbour of Gothenburg in Sweden, he found out that a small forested area was being cut down, as it was a hideout place for migrants that were trying to illegally board the boats to England. The artist collected the cut down trees and reassembled them using copper plates. The newly assembled trees were installed between two existing ones in front of the police station in Malmö, where you apply for national ID card and passport.
Frida Orupabo was born 1986 in Norway, where she lives and works. Upcoming solo exhibitions include Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm and Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo. She participated in the Okayama Art Summit (2022); São Paulo Biennial (2021) and Venice Biennale (2018). Solo exhibitions include Fotomuseum Winterthur (2022), Kunsthall Trondheim (2021), Portikus, Frankfurt/Main and Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (both 2019). She exhibited with Arthur Jafa the Serpentine Gallery, London (2017) et al. Orupabo was awarded the Spectrum – International Prize for Photography (2024); shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, the Joan Miró Prize (both 2023) and the Future Generation Art Prize (2020).
Galerie Nordenhake Berlin
Upcoming exhibition:
Iñaki Bonillas
Horizons of the Possible
September 14 – Nove 9, 2024
Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm
Spencer Finch
Sunset in a Cup
August 22 – September 28, 2024
Galerie Nordenhake
Mexico City
