tl;dr

  • This is the rare occasion that Gwangju Biennale has appointed an artist to organize the exhibition.
  • Ho Tzu Nyen is known primarily for his moving image practice.
  • Ho Tzu Nyen participated as an artist at Gwangju Biennale on two other occasions, in 2018 and 2021.

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In a move that signals a major embrace of the moving image in the art world, the Gwangju Biennale has appointed Ho Tzu Nyen as artistic director for its 2026 edition. The Singaporean artist, known for his creative engagement with film, video installations, and performance, has stated that his appointment to this position will foreground the “the transformative power of art” in a global climate that has been beset by growing uncertainties.

Through his moving image practice, Ho Tzu Nyen has often set out to unravel the tangle of complexities surrounding the clashing subjectivities that define the culturally diverse area that is Southeast Asia. In his ongoing research for a Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia he aspires to document the realities, fictions and tangled indigenous and colonial intrigues which have shaped the modern historical narrative of the region.

Ho Tzu Nyen has participated in several international art festivals such as the Venice Biennale in 2011, the Aichi Triennale in 2019, the Sharjah Biennial in 2019, as well as the Gwangju Biennales in 2018 and 2021. The president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, Lee Sang-Gap, observed that his attunement to the surrounding reality will expand the Biennale's conceptual framework in both the international and regional contexts. 

Commenting on his own experiences at previous festivals in the city, Ho Tzu Nyen noted that the 2026 edition will open up the opportunity for the ideas, propositions, practices and energies that have shaped his creative work over the past two decades to converge into a vision that resonates with Gwangju's legacy of democratic change. The 2026 Gwangju Biennale will, accordingly, place a greater emphasis on collective creative strategies and solidarities that can stave off the deterioration of democratic values and the emergent global climate crisis.

The 16th edition of the Gwangju Biennale is set to open in September 2026. For more information visit the Biennale Foundation site.

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