Arts & performanceGwangju

Gwangju Biennale 2023 in Gwangju, South Korea

광주비엔날레 2023

Apr – Jul2023
7 –9
Fri–Sun
Past edition

7 April 2023 to 9 July 2023

This edition has ended. It is kept as a record of what the 2023 festival offered. The current information is on the Gwangju Biennale page (5 Sep – 15 Nov 2026).

Dates7 Apr – 9 Jul 2023
VenueGwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall, plus pavilions around the city광주광역시 북구 비엔날레로 111 (용봉동)
AdmissionPaid. On-site tickets for the main exhibition cost ₩20,000 for adults, ₩10,000 for youths and ₩7,000 for children (advance ₩17,000, ₩8,000 and ₩5,000); children 3 and under enter free. Gallery 5, entered from Biennale Plaza, needs no ticket.
Next edition2024: 7 Sep – 1 Dec 2024

Program

  • Theme 'soft and weak like water' (물처럼 부드럽고 여리게), directed by Lee Sook-kyung
  • More than 340 works by 79 artists from 31 countries and 43 cities, at the main venue and satellite venues around Gwangju
  • Nine national pavilions (Canada, China, France, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Ukraine), several of them in Yangnim-dong

Notes on the 2023 edition

14th edition, 94 days, held in spring. About 500,000 visitors.

About the festival

The Gwangju Biennale (광주비엔날레) is Korea's oldest contemporary art biennale, held since 1995, with its main exhibition at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall in Buk-gu, Gwangju, and pavilions in museums and historic houses around the city. The 16th edition, 'You Must Change Your Life', directed by Ho Tzu Nyen, runs 5 September–15 November 2026, 10:00–18:00, closed on Mondays. On-site tickets cost ₩20,000 for adults, ₩10,000 for youths and ₩7,000 for children; the 17th edition is expected in autumn 2028.

Transport, booking, crowd and accessibility details are on the main Gwangju Biennale page, which covers every edition.

Source

Facts checked
21 October 2026, against the sources listed below.

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