Published: 20 October 2026

Alicja Bielawska at the 16th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea

Author: Editorial Team

Events and exhibitions
ALICJA-BIELAWSKA-EN

The Gwangju Biennale is one of Asia's leading events for contemporary art. This year, the Polish Pavilion hosts the exhibition “Rites of Passage,” featuring Alicja Bielawska, a faculty member at SWPS University's School of Form. In South Korea, she presents hand-dyed textiles, ceramic works, and drawings.

Where
Gwangju, South Korea
When
5 September 2026, 0:00 - 15 November 2026, 0:00
A bright gallery space. In the left foreground, metal frames draped with yellow and purple semi-transparent fabrics. On the right, a wooden shelving unit with colorful ceramic vessels. In the background, a framed drawing on the wall, with a blurred silhouette of a person walking past it.
A fragment of the "Rites of Passage" exhibition at the Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale, featuring works by Alicja Bielawska | Photo: Kuba Celej

“Rites of Passage”: The need for rituals

We live in a time of constant change, yet shared rituals are becoming increasingly rare. Transitions such as mourning, coming of age, and the beginning of a new chapter in life are increasingly experienced as private, individual events that can be difficult to name and navigate collectively. These experiences are at the heart of “Rites of Passage,” an exhibition in the Polish Pavilion at this year's Gwangju Biennale. The biennale's theme is “You Must Change Your Life.”

The starting point for curator Paulina Olszewska was The White Book by Han Kang. The Korean Nobel laureate, who was born in Gwangju, wrote the book in 2016 while staying in Warsaw. It captures a moment of hesitation—a threshold between what has already happened and what is yet to come. This idea shaped the exhibition's perspective on change: leaving the familiar behind can also create space for something new.

The idea of passage is reflected not only in the exhibition's subject matter but also in the way it is designed. Visitors move through a sequence of spaces, from areas of gentle, almost imperceptible transformation to those marked by clear boundaries, tensions, and ruptures.

Textiles, ceramics, and drawings in Alicja Bielawska's installation

In the Polish Pavilion, Alicja Bielawska combines translucent silk fabrics, hand-dyed with natural dyes, ceramic forms, and drawings. Together, these works create a calm, delicate space that invites visitors to slow down and take a closer look at the materials and their textures.

In her artistic practice, Bielawska explores the connections between materiality, memory, and everyday life. She draws attention to the ways objects accompany us through different stages of life and hold traces of our experiences.

Alicja Bielawska stands between installations made of thin, airy purple and yellow fabrics draped over black frames. She is looking calmly to the side.
Alicja Bielawska, School of Form lecturer, in front of her installation at the Gwangju Biennale | Photo: Kuba Celej
A view of a spatial installation in the middle of a white gallery room. It consists of vertical black metal frames with light, smooth fabrics in purple, yellow, and peach draped loosely over them, creating layered, semi-transparent screens.
In the foreground, „Passage”, 2026, textile, metal, glazed ceramic presented at the Gwangju Biennale | Photo: Kuba Celej
Two abstract drawings in light wooden frames hanging on a white wall. They depict delicate, overlapping geometric forms, fine lines, and pastel color patches in shades of red, blue, and yellow. Next to them on the wall is a small block of text.
Drawings from the “Double Spaces” (2018) series by Alicja Bielawska, on display at the Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale | Photo: Kuba Celej
A simple shelving unit with four wooden shelves supported by metal legs, standing against a white wall. Nine diverse, multi-colored ceramic vessels are evenly displayed on the shelves, including bulbous and elongated forms in shades of pink, light blue, navy blue, red, and yellow.
Ceramic objects by Alicja Bielawska, on display at the Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale | Photo: Kuba Celej
A close-up of light wooden shelves holding four irregularly shaped, rounded ceramic vessels in light blue, grey-brown, dark blue, and pink. In the background, blurred vertical planes of colorful, semi-transparent fabrics are visible.
Ceramic works and a fabric installation by Alicja Bielawska on display at the Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale | Photo: Kuba Celej

Polish and Korean artists in dialogue

The exhibition brings together artists from different generations, working across a range of media and artistic traditions. Works by Alicja Bielawska, Inside Job, and Anna Zaradny are presented in dialogue with historical works by Urszula Broll and Park Saengkwang, as well as an installation by Yeesookyung.

The exhibition features painting, drawing, installation, video, sound, ceramics, and textiles. The mix of artworks, sounds, and textures creates a a multisensory environment where visitors can reflect on change.

Exhibition details

Rites of Passage

Where: Polish Pavilion at the 2026 Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea

When: September 5–November 15, 2026

Curator: Paulina Olszewska

Artists: Alicja Bielawska, Urszula Broll, Inside Job / Ula Lucińska i Michał Knychaus, Park Saengkwang, Yeesookyung, Anna Zaradny

Organizer: Adam Mickiewicz Institute

Partners: Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Seoul, ING Polish Art Foundation, leelenam studio, Galeria Studio

The project is funded by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Meet the artist

Alicja Bielawska

Bio

Visual artist