Controversy over the name of the "Taiwan Pavilion" at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea: The Wrestle between Art and Politics

In early August, Taiwanese artist Zheng Tingting suddenly learned that the name "Taiwan" had disappeared from the poster of South Korea's "Gwangju Biennale" where he was going to participate.

Among the colorful posters, the part that originally said "Taiwan" was replaced with "NTMoFA" before the opening. Before the name change, the organizers did not inform Taiwanese exhibitors.

Zheng Tingting told BBC Chinese that he learned the news very passively. "(Initially) another artist's friend saw the poster and asked him, 'Didn't you say you were participating in the Taiwan Pavilion? Why is there no Taiwan Pavilion?'"

A few months ago, she was invited to use her work "Audio Description" to participate in the "Infinite Copies: Gray Zone" exhibition at the Taiwan Pavilion of the Gwangju Biennale in September, along with eight other Taiwanese artists.

She said that Chen Xiangwen, the curator of the Taiwan Pavilion, once mentioned to her that she encountered some "bottlenecks" during the preparation process. The other party did not disclose the details at the time, only saying that they were "still continuing to fight for it." She later saw Taiwan's name disappear from the posters.

"I don't think it was expected, but it's not surprising, because 'Taiwan' is a name that is difficult to reveal," Zheng Tingting said. “Everyone should have the right to identify with ‘who we really are’ and this right should not be deprived of us.”

Until the eve of the opening, the controversy over the name change continued to ferment. Some scholars said that this was due to pressure from Beijing and was in line with the name controversies that have occurred many times in the international art and literary circles in recent years.

The Gwangju Biennale in South Korea was founded in 1995 and is one of the oldest and most influential international contemporary art exhibitions in Asia. The original intention of the Biennale was to commemorate the Gwangju democratization movement in 1980 and to highlight the core values ​​of freedom, human rights and peace.

This exhibition runs from September 5th to November 15th. This year, the National Museum of Fine Arts of Taiwan (referred to as the National Museum of Fine Arts) applied to participate in the "Pavilion Project" and contacted the organizer under the name "Taiwan Pavilion". However, in the electronic brochure released by the organizer in early August, the original word "Taiwan" disappeared and was replaced by the English abbreviation of the National Museum of Fine Arts "NTMoFA".

Chen Xiangwen, the curator of the Taiwan Pavilion, once told the Central News Agency that the early communication with the organizer of the Gwangju Biennale was very positive, and he hoped that the other party could "transparently tell us the review mechanism and the reason why he wanted us to change the name during this communication with the Taiwan Pavilion."

Ten invited Taiwanese artists and curators issued a joint statement titled "Taiwan Pavilion Under Censorship" in mid-August, questioning "why the self-naming of exhibitors must be subject to political restrictions." Taiwan's Ministry of Culture also expressed its protest, saying "Taiwan will not give in."

After the incident broke out, a Korean art group called "Artists Against Censorship" expressed support on the Internet, criticizing the organizer's actions as tantamount to "political censorship" and having yet to provide an explanation or apology for the controversy.

The Gwangju Biennale Foundation issued a statement on August 19, denying that "political censorship" was involved, and that the National Museum of Fine Arts signed the exhibition agreement this year as an "institutional participant" and marked the pavilion with the name of the institution in accordance with regulations. The foundation also stated that it did not want this matter to turn into a political or diplomatic issue.

Taiwan's Ministry of Culture responded that South Korea's statement was obviously wrong and that the Taiwan Pavilion was suddenly renamed. The entire process was supported by letters.

This Gwangju Biennale has a total of 27 pavilions. The exhibitors from Brazil, Canada, and Indonesia are all planned by local art institutions or artists, but they still use the names of their respective countries as the names of the pavilions.

Looking through the data over the years, we found that individual artists from Taiwan have participated in the Gwangju Biennale since 1995, followed by institutional and official participation. For example, in 2021, the "Taiwan C-LAB Theme Pavilion" will display a "Double Echo" themed exhibition.

On August 25, the organizer of the Gwangju Biennale issued an announcement stating that "an agreement has been reached on the use of the name 'Taiwan Pavilion'" and "the use of the name 'Taiwan Pavilion' has been approved." The organizer stated that Taiwan had stated that it would withdraw from this Biennale if it was unable to participate in the exhibition as the "Taiwan Pavilion". Therefore, the organizer decided to restore the original name in official documents and promotional materials.

Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung also publicly stated that political and administrative forces should not intervene in the art field to avoid damaging Gwangju’s image as an international cultural city.

However, some people in the Korean art community questioned the regrettable statement by the organizer of the Gwangju Biennale that "approved the use of the name 'Taiwan Pavilion'." "Who is approving what?" and pointed out that "the field of art should not be a tool for diplomatic compromise, but must be an independent space where free speech and practice meet."

After the name "Taiwan Pavilion" was restored, China expressed strong dissatisfaction and ordered participating Chinese artists to withdraw from the exhibition. Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing also publicly expressed regret and concern over the organizer's approval of the use of the name "Taiwan Pavilion".

The Gwangju City Government later issued a statement emphasizing that the foreign policy of respecting the "One China" position has not changed. The name "Taiwan Pavilion" is an expression decided by the participating artists in the context of an art exhibition. It does not mean that the Gwangju City Government or the Gwangju Biennale recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country.

The China Exhibition Team held a press conference on Thursday (September 3) to express protest and announced its withdrawal from the exhibition. Local media reported that Ruan Yuelai, curator of the exhibition planning team of the China Pavilion, said at a press conference that they attach great importance to the Gwangju Biennale and have invested a lot of effort. However, the organizer of the Biennale used an incorrect name, which caused political factors to intervene in the art field.

The press conference ended in just three minutes. The Chinese artists only stated their official stance and did not engage in questions and answers.

China also stated that the organizer "stubbornly adheres to the wrong approach" and "seriously violated the one-China principle" and undermined the political foundation of China-South Korea relations. It "firmly opposes and will never accept it."

Huang Zhao-nian, an associate professor at the National Development Research Institute of National Chengchi University in Taiwan, told BBC Chinese that although the outside world is not sure why the Gwangju Biennale initially decided to remove the "Taiwan Pavilion" name, the entire incident is in line with China's typical pattern of external influence operations.

He pointed out that Beijing has long tried to shape the international community's name and positioning of Taiwan through political and economic influence, and related operations have become "more frequent, tougher and more obvious" in the past decade. He analyzed that since the 2010s, China has gradually used nationalist discourse as the core of maintaining political legitimacy. Therefore, it is particularly sensitive to issues related to Taiwan's sovereignty symbols and will influence the decisions of external institutions through diplomatic, economic or market pressure.

Huang Zhaonian said that governments, enterprises or other units of various countries "may conduct self-censorship because they are afraid of losing China's diplomatic relations or markets." This Gwangju Biennale reflects this effect; Gwangju City's subsequent reaffirmation of respect for the "One China" policy can also be regarded as a compromise made under diplomatic pressure.