Review | The 2024 Gwangju Biennale is full of great art. But enough of moralising virtue signals

The 15th edition of the Gwangju Biennale, Asia’s largest contemporary art exhibition, opened on September 7 during a month in which South Korea is brandishing its visual-arts soft power.

The main exhibition in Gwangju – this year titled “Pansori”, after the Korean traditional folk opera genre – has moments that enthral, transform and intrigue. But it also stirs questions about the value of biennales today.

According to the curatorial statement, the operatic title symbolises a world where discordant voices can be heard simultaneously. Different sections of the exhibition, each having a sound-related theme, are meant to bring out the idea that more space should be given to other species, and to each other.

One quietly affecting piece is Peter Buggenhout’s monumental The Blind Leading the Blind #91 (2018-2023). It is one of the first works visitors come across in a section titled “Feedback Effect” – a reference to how our world has become an echo chamber of knee-jerk reactions.