Rites of Passage

What happens when one chapter of life has come to an end, but the next has yet to begin? Rites of Passage, an exhibition organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute for the Poland Pavilion at Gwangju Biennale 2026, explores the experience of transition—both on a personal and a global scale.

The exhibition is curated by Paulina Olszewska and brings together artists from Poland and Korea: Alicja Bielawska, Urszula Broll, Inside Job (Ula Lucińska and Michał Knychaus), Park Saengkwang, Yeesookyung, and Anna Zaradny. Rites of Passage will be presented as part of the 16th Gwangju Biennale, held this year under the theme You Must Change Your Life. One of the most important contemporary art events in Asia, the Biennale will run from September 5 to November 15,  2026.

We live in a time of constant flux, yet we increasingly lack shared rituals that help us navigate through it. What was once embedded in the rhythm of communal life—transitions between life stages, mourning, coming of age, the beginning of a new chapter—has often become a private experience, difficult to articulate. It is precisely this condition that Rites of Passage seeks to explore.

The exhibition takes as its starting point a passage from The White Book, written by Han Kang during her stay in Warsaw in 2016. In it, the author reflects on a moment of hesitation: the threshold between what has already happened and what is yet to come. It is a moment of uncertainty, anticipation, and stepping into the unknown. 

For curator Paulina Olszewska, this image became the starting point for a broader reflection on rites of passage—those moments when our lives change, sometimes dramatically, sometimes almost imperceptibly. From birth to death, from personal decisions to historical turning points, change is a constant presence. It shapes our everyday lives, memory, relationships, and communities.

The rite of passage is not merely the subject of the exhibition—it is also embedded in its spatial design. Visitors will move through a sequence of environments, ranging from spaces of subtle, almost imperceptible transformation to areas defined by distinct thresholds, tensions, and ruptures. In one section, the artworks will gently merge into one another, suggesting change as a gradual process. In another, visitors will encounter contrast, dissonance, and a sense of disruption. The journey through the pavilion becomes a physical experience of crossing a threshold—of moving from one state of being to another.

The exhibition also responds to the theme of the 16th Gwangju Biennale, You Must Change Your Life. In a world marked by war, the climate crisis, social tensions, and increasing polarisation, transformation is no abstract concept. It is something we experience every day—in our private lives, in politics, in society, and in our relationships with others.

The exhibition brings together different generations, artistic traditions, and media. Traditional painting and drawing meet installation, video, sound, ceramics, textiles, and objects made from both organic and industrial materials. Works by Alicja Bielawska, Inside Job, and Anna Zaradny are presented in dialogue with historical works by Urszula Broll and Park Saengkwang—widely regarded as one of the leading figures of modern Korean art, whose work has become an enduring part of Korea’s cultural heritage—as well as an installation by Yeesookyung. Together, they create a multisensory environment in which materials, images, sounds, and textures evoke an atmosphere of contemplation, suspension, and transformation.

A specially commissioned sound composition will form an integral part of the exhibition. Rooted in the traditional music of the region while incorporating experimental approaches to sound, it will serve as an acoustic guide through the exhibition—a sonic landscape accompanying visitors as they move through the successive spaces of the pavilion.

Rites of Passage has been conceived as an open exhibition, without providing a single prescribed narrative or any straightforward answers. Each visitor is invited to experience it in their own way, interpreting its symbols, tensions, and transitions through the lens of their own sensibility. It is a space for contemplation: intimate and personal, yet deeply attentive to the contemporary world. Viewed through both Polish and Korean perspectives, the exhibition becomes a shared meditation on change—inevitable, unsettling, yet profoundly human.

The Poland Pavilion at Gwangju Biennale is organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute with support from the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Seoul, the ING Polish Art Foundation, Galeria Studio and leeleenam studio. Project is funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

The Adam Mickiewicz Institute (IAM) brings Polish culture to people around the world. Being a state institution, it creates lasting interest in Polish culture and art through strengthening the presence of Polish artists on the global stage. It initiates innovative projects, supports international cooperation and cultural exchanges. It promotes the work of both established and promising artists, showing the diversity and richness of our culture. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is also responsible for the Culture.pl website, which is a comprehensive source of knowledge about Polish culture. More information here.