Dear Ho Tzu Nyen,
AICA International joins the global art community for the immediate restoration of the original name of the Taiwan Pavilion at the 16th Gwangju Biennale scheduled to start in September 2026. The arbitrary name change from Taiwan Pavilion to NTMOFA (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts) has shocked the Taiwanese participants and the global art community. This came as a surprise, as all the official documents signed between the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and the Taiwan team refer to the Pavilion as Taiwan Pavilion and yet without official consultation or intimation, the name change to NTMOFA appeared in all the publicity material of the 16th Biennale. An urgent response was launched by the participating artists and curator.
The Ministry of Culture of Taiwan has also registered an official protest with the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and it have asked for an explanation for this arbitrary name change and called for its immediate restoration as it not only impacts Taiwan’s right to self-representation but undermines the credibility of the host institution. The Gwangju Biennale which is responsible for providing an answer still has not responded to the complaint.
The international art community has taken up the issue in different art forums. AICA International condemns this political censorship and blatant suppression of a country’s right to self-identification.
As pointed out in articles and letters of protest, this threat to artistic representation at Gwangju Biennale is a violation of its founding vision to protect artistic rights and freedom of expression as the Biennale, the only one of its kind, was born in response to the brutal suppression of the Gwangju uprising where a large number of young dissenters lost their lives.
South Korea has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in April 1990. As a signatory, it is legally bound by Articles 18 and 19 of the former covenant to establish the freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the freedom of expression, respectively, while Article 15 of the latter covenant establishes the right of everyone to take part in cultural life and asserts that state parties will respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity.
Moreover, the 1980 UN Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist asserts that member states have a duty to protect, defend and assist artists and their freedom of creation and establishes that freedom of expression and communication is the essential prerequisite for all artistic activities; member states should see that artists are unequivocally accorded the protection provided for in this respect by international and national legislation concerning human rights.
AICA, the representative body of art critics based in Paris since the 1940s, is active across the world with around 5,500 members in 90 countries. One of its objectives is to protect the ethical and professional rights of its members and defend impartiality and freedom of artistic expression worldwide. The Censorship and Freedom of Expression Committee of AICA actively monitors cases of censorship and violation of freedom of expression and artistic rights.
The political censorship carried out by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation in changing the name of the Taiwan Pavilion is a clear violation of the Covenants signed by South Korea that protect freedom of expression as enshrined in the UN Charter.
AICA, in the strongest terms, urges Gwangju Biennale to restore the original name of the Taiwan Pavilion and respect its own mandate as the upholder of freedom of expression.
Malgorzata Kazmierczak
President, AICA International
Niilofur Farrukh
Chair of the Censorship and Freedom of Expression Committee, AICA International
The full letter is also available to download as a PDF.