Tatiana Wolska at Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale 2025
Neighbors in Civilization: Somewhere Over the Yellow Sea

Mokpo Culture & Arts Center, Jeollanam-do, South Korea

The Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale is the only biennale in the world devoted to exploring East Asian identity through the contemporary language of Sumuk, or ink painting. Reinterpretations rooted in the East Asian tradition of brush and ink become a living, evolving medium for global artistic dialogue. Rather than merely continuing the tradition, the Biennale invites artists from around the world to engage with Sumuk as both a conceptual and material practice. Their work resonates with questions of memory, place, temporality and transformation, shaping a new aesthetic discourse – grounded in East Asian cultural sensibility, yet responsive to the challenges of the present day.

The 2025 edition, entitled “Neighbours in Civilization – Somewhere Over the Yellow Sea”, focuses on the maritime cultural networks of East Asia, particularly those shaped by the Yellow Sea. This body of water serves as a space for cultural exchange among a network of distinct yet interconnected centres of civilisation. By crossing the boundaries of tradition and experimentation, philosophy and materiality, the Biennale weaves past and present into a multi-layered exhibition. This edition celebrates diversity and hybridity, raising questions about the notion of the “West” and exploring how East Asia itself can be reinterpreted as a

Tatiana Wolska’s work is presented at the Mokpo Culture & Arts Museum as part of the exhibition “New Nature and Moving Ink”, which explores global trends in ink painting – from traditional forms to dynamic, interactive and media-based works. Wolska creates organic forms from recycled materials, including plastic bottles, wood and used mattresses. Her new piece is a large-format drawing installation created in situ. It extends organically through the space, without a central point, generating tension through the density of its lines. The artist’s process-focused approach, which emphasises creation over final form, also resonates with the philosophical spirit of ink painting.

Interview with Tatiana Wolska at Jeonnam Sumuk Biennale: here