From the ground up: Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale asks what Earth creates

The 2026 Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale, an international ceramics festival now in its 13th edition, will run from Sept. 18 through Nov. 1 across Yeoju, Icheon and Gwangju in Gyeonggi, with a question in mind.

This year’s theme, “Earth Makes,” turns the conventional idea of artistic creation on its head: Instead of placing humans at the center, it asks visitors to see the earth itself as a creative force.

“Ceramics can be a bowl, but they can also become buildings, spacecraft and smartphones,” said Lee Dae-hyung, artistic director of the Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale. “What should aesthetics look like in the 21st-century AI era, when our sense of wonder is fading? Perhaps ceramics, a material that has been with humanity for so long, can help us recover a more human sensibility.”

The biennale has also made an unconventional choice for artistic director. The position has traditionally gone to figures from the ceramics world, but this year it is being led by Lee, a former artistic director of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Lee also served as art director at Hyundai Motor and directed “Connect, BTS,” the global contemporary art project launched by K-pop megastars BTS in 2020.

“I became deeply interested in ceramics after spending about two years researching and exhibiting advanced ceramics beginning in 2012,” Lee said at a press conference in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday.

“For the Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale to build on its history and raise its international profile, networking and storytelling are crucial,” Lee said. “This year, we intend to really get that work underway.”

One of the biennale’s key programs is the special exhibition “Living Legacy: Masters of Korean Ceramics Today” at the Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art in Gwangju — the biennale's first exhibition to bring together master ceramicists from around the country.

The new project brings together 64 nationally and regionally recognized master ceramists. Their work is organized around four themes: the preservation and contemporary interpretation of celadon techniques; the free-form aesthetics of buncheong ware (traditional Korean ceramic art featuring coarse gray-green stoneware coated with white clay); the understated elegance and dignity of white porcelain; and new possibilities for Korean ceramics.

The main exhibition, “Earth Makes,” at the Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art's Icheon location features 67 artists from 28 teams representing 14 countries.

Artists including William Cobbing of Britain; Kim Chang-ho, Kim Si-young and Lee Wan of Korea; Yasmin Smith of Australia; and French artist duo Scenocosme explore the time and memories held within clay and the earth, as well as ideas of ecology and natural cycles.

The museum will also host an international competition featuring 58 works selected from 1,397 submissions by 1,050 artists from 77 countries. The exhibition offers a broad look at contemporary ceramic art through works that span different cultural backgrounds and approaches to form.

Other programs include “Korean History through Ceramics,” an exhibition drawn from the Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum’s collection, and “Tradition, Revisited,” an exhibition connecting ceramics with the art market at Gallery Jiwooheon and the Gyeonggi Museum of Ceramic Design.

The biennale will also host international academic events and a Kids Biennale for younger visitors.

“This year, we shift the maker of ceramics from humans to the earth, the soil and nature itself, and explore the harmony between humanity and the planet,” said Ryu In-kwon, president of the Korea Ceramic Foundation.

“Some have said the biennale needs stronger ties with local communities,” Ryu said. “Unlike an expo, however, a biennale is fundamentally devoted to fine art. We are preserving that spirit while continuing to strengthen our connections with the traditional ceramics industry and local ceramic artists.”

BY KANG HYE-RAN [[email protected]]