Italian architect Franco Mancuso donates archives on Korean Pavilion at Venice Biennale

Italian architect Franco Mancuso has donated nearly 4,000 documents related to the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale to the Arts Council Korea (Arko).

The architect had gathered the documents as he undertook the design of the pavilion together with Korean architect Kim Seok-chul, who has since died.

Arko, the commissioner of the Korean pavilion, runs the 26th national pavilion in Giardini located on the eastern edge of Venice. Opened in 1995 as the last national pavilion at the biennale, it will mark its 30th anniversary in 2025.

“Kim and I had gone through many discussions to process the design since there were so many plants and tree roots,” Mancuso recalled at a roundtable discussion in Italian, interpreted in Korean for the audience. His eyes were wet before starting his speech, reminiscing.

Arko will host a commemorative exhibition next year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the pavilion, advancing the celebration by a year to have it take place during the Venice Biennale 2024. The commemorative exhibitions in Venice and Seoul will feature the archives donated by the Italian architect. Categorizing the materials is already underway, according to Arko.

The Venice Biennale hosts art and architecture exhibitions in alternating years. The world’s oldest and most prestigious art biennale will open next year with the theme of “Stranieri Ovunque -- Foreigners Everywhere.”