Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2026 opens under 'Resonance Field' theme

CHANGWON-SI.- The Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2026 Resonance Field, which opened on September 30, is currently on view through November 15.

Hosted and organized by Changwon Special City and the Changwon Cultural Foundation, the Changwon Sculpture Biennale is Korea’s only sculpture biennale. Growing out of the MoonShin International Sculpture Symposium in 2010 and held every two years since 2012, it has functioned as a platform where contemporary sculpture discourse intersects with international currents in sculpture.

Running from Wednesday, September 30 to Sunday, November 15, Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2026 brings together 74 teams (81 artists) from 41 cities and regions around the world. It unfolds across Changwon, from Seongsan Art Hall, the site of the main exhibition, to the House of Changwon — Changwon History & Folklore Museum, the Jinhae Station Area, and Masan Fish Market. For the first time, the Biennale has adopted a co-directorship that includes a foreign director, with Cho Hyejung and Jiang Jun serving as co–artistic directors.

Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2026 takes “Resonance Field” as its theme, beginning from the question of whether sculpture can become a field in which humans and the world resonate. Here, “resonance” does not mean simple harmony; it refers to the reverberations that arise when humans and matter, works and places, and different memories and times each form their own distinct grain. The exhibition takes place at sites that carry Changwon’s sense of place, shaped by the different histories and landscapes of its port and market, its naval base and railway, its industry and urban planning. Works are set within spaces where traditional culture, modern history, and the everyday lives of citizens breathe, and where different times and landscapes of life intersect.

Two methodologies for sculpture: Seongsan Art Hall, where “resonance” arises
The two co–artistic directors organized the main exhibition and Special Exhibitions I and II, each proposing a different methodology that converges on “resonance.” Sculpture Before Sculpture, curated by Cho Hyejung, carries the message that the conditions for resonance begin with the way we relate to the world, while Changwon Sculpture Atlas, curated by Jiang Jun, explores the structures through which resonance persists. Seongsan Art Hall, where the main exhibition and both special exhibitions unfold together, is the central venue in which the Biennale’s thinking is concentrated. From works that explore the materiality of sculpture to works that extend into relationships between humans and nonhumans, different formal languages meet here to explore the possibilities of resonance.

Sculpture joined with historical traces

In the courtyard of the House of Changwon, which holds more than 200 years of history, Ding Yi’s new work Constellation Stele lies stretched out at length. The sky and clouds, the ground, and the viewers are reflected on the surface of the sculpture, which is inscribed with the “shí” motif long used by the artist, creating a scene in which different times and beings intersect and condense.

Installed in the pavilion of the House of Changwon, Manal AlDowayan’s Listen to Me (2026) asks about the relationship between speaking and listening. The sound and resonance produced when viewers strike the lip-shaped brass sculptures evoke questions of speech and silence, utterance and response.

Kimsooja unveils new work

Jinhae Station, which holds the histories of the naval port, the modern railway, and movement and communication, takes on new life as a space for artworks. Kimsooja’s new work Deductive Object – The Grid (2026) extends the concept of ‘weaving’ that the artist has long explored into an architectural dimension, showing repeated arrangement and accumulation in brick. The grid in the work meshes with the linear structure and rhythm of the tracks at Jinhae Station, presenting the ways in which sculpture, architecture, and place relate to one another.

Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2026 Resonance Field runs through November 15.