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The 2018 Winter Olympic Gears up With Egyptian Artist Wael Shawky in South Korea

January 31, 2018
Wael Shawky, The Cabaret Crusades-The Path to Cairo, HD Film, sound, colour, 58 mins, 2012 ⓒWael Shawky. Courtesy of Lisson Gallery

Egyptian Artist Wael Shawky to exhibit his art as part of the 2018 Winter Olympics event -known as PyeongChang 2018- which is scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 February in Pyeongchang County, South Korea.

This is a major international multi-sport event which aims at spreading messages of harmony and coexistence, equality and peace, and humanism; the South Korean province of Gangwon-do is hosting the visual-art stage Gangwon International Biennale, with the participation of the Shawky.

Organized by the Gangwon International Art Exhibition & Folk Art Festival Organizing Committee, the Gangwon International Biennale will be held for 44 days from 3 February to 18 March, at the Green City Experience Centre e-Zen in Gangneung.

The Gangwon International Biennale aims at reflecting the common tragic reality of mankind through art; its theme is to offer the recovery of human value.

The Biennale will introduce artworks developed by 60 individuals and groups of artists from more than 20 countries including Swiss Thomas Hirschhorn, Egyptian Wael Shawky, Lebanese-American Walid Shawky, Syrian Tammam Azzam, and Lebanese Akram Zaatari.

Hirschhorn is renowned for being severely critical of the political problems in modern society through presenting images of violence and miserable moments, reconstructing the violence and world of evil through grotesque images.

Shawky brings the problems of life into the spotlight by substituting epic theater for multi-layered and complicated history, politics and social contexts.

Raad shows the misconception and oblivion of the history of the Lebanon Civil War as well as the continuation of tragedy and trauma.

Azzam has been working on the demanding focus on the tragedy and refugees of the Syrian Civil War. Zaatari is famous for collecting and analyzing a wide range of data of political and cultural situations in the Middle East.

Works and posthumous works by South Korean documentary director Park Jong-Pil, who died of liver cancer on 28 July 2017, will be exhibited for the first time ever. Park Jong-Pil has recorded poverty issues and disability on-site through his entire life.

Also, the South Korean talented artist Jeong YeonSam, who passed away at the age of 31, will be on the international stage for the first time.