Jakob Fabri­sius and Lee Seolhee Appointed Artistic Directors of Korean Pavilion at Next Year's Venice Biennale

First Joint Artistic Director Since the Opening of the Korea Pavilion in 1995

Jakob Fabricius, director of Denmark Art Hub Copenhagen, and curator Lee Seol-hee of Kunsthal Aarhus in Denmark have been selected as artistic directors of the Korean Pavilion for next year's Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition.

Jakob Fabricius, Director of Denmark Art Hub Copenhagen, and Lee Seolhee, Curator of Kunsthal Aarhus in Denmark, have been selected as artistic directors of the Korean Pavilion for the 60th International Art Exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
[Photo by Korea Arts & Culture Education Service]

On the 22nd, the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service announced, "Director Jakob Fabricius and curator Lee Seol-hee will present a new work by artist Koo Jeong A under the theme 'ODORAMA CITIES,' conceptualizing the entire Korean Pavilion building as a 'Korean scent journey.'"

This is the first time since the Korean Pavilion opened in 1995 that a co-artistic director system has been used to prepare the exhibition at the International Art Exhibition.

'ODORAMA CITIES' explores the national portrait of Korea by creating and installing scents representing various Korean cities, transforming the Korean Pavilion into an intimate environment. It will showcase artist Koo Jeong A's unique sensibility, which evokes poetic changes by adding invisible elements such as scent and temperature to architectural space.

The public recruitment for the Korean Pavilion artistic director this year was advanced by about six months compared to previous years and was held from December 2 to 30 last year. The first round was a document screening, and the second round consisted of presentations of exhibition plans and interviews by three teams.

The committee highly evaluated the exhibition plan proposed by director Jakob Fabricius and curator Lee Seol-hee, which aimed to depict Korea's national portrait through a Korean scent journey. The selection process involved various domestic and international art experts, including curators Joo Eun-ji and Yung Ma.

Known as the "Olympics of the art world," the Venice Biennale is an international event held biennially with art and architecture exhibitions alternating each year. On December 15 last year, the Venice Biennale Foundation (Chairman Roberto Cicutto) appointed Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director of the S?o Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), as the general director.

The 60th International Art Exhibition will be held for about seven months from April 20 to November 24, 2024, in the Castello Park and Arsenale area of Venice, Italy.

An official from the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service said, "This year's selection process for the Korean Pavilion artistic director was conducted with more care than ever before, appointing overseas experts as selection committee members to reflect diverse opinions from domestic and international experts. We will actively support the exhibition to be a successful representation of Korea."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.