1646 Experimental Art Space at the 16th Gwangju Biennale
1646 Experimental Art Space in The Hague (NL) takes part in the 16th Gwangju Biennale titled You must change your life.
1646 invites Dutch artist Fiona Lutjenhuis to develop a new site-specific installation for the 1646 Pavilion. Lutjenhuis reflects upon the influence imaginary worlds can have on our understanding of reality. Within a submerged world, Counting Waves Till We Are Reunited Once More fantasizes about past myths to rethink the future.
Growing up in the Malva sect – a religious community that combined theosophy, esoteric cosmology, UFO beliefs, supernatural ideas, and elements borrowed from multiple religious traditions, including Buddhism – Lutjenhuis was told many fantastical stories about the creation of the world as being true. One of these tales was the famous philosophical myth Atlantis. In her family’s retelling, Atlantis was an ancient civilization, with highly advanced technology, capable of transforming their bodies, living underwater, and existing beyond definitions of gender. Its fall began with separation: one day, male and female genders were created. With the loss of unity, the ego appeared, domination emerged, a sense of incompleteness spread, and in time Atlantis perished and drowned. As a child, the story of Atlantis strongly resonated with Lutjenhuis who, living in the Netherlands with large parts below sea level, had a fear of drowning.
Lutjenhuis’ installation takes the myth of Atlantis as a starting point. She creates an underwater world that merges personal stories, Dutch and Flemish folklore, as well as pseudoscience. In the work, Atlantis is not presented as a lost paradise, but as a mirror held up to our time: it reminds us that transformation and a sense of unity with one another are essential qualities to survive in times of global unrest and climate crisis.
The Gwangju Biennale takes place from Saturday 05/09/26 until Sunday 15/11/26. The 1646 Pavilion is open Tuesday to Sunday (10:00 AM – 6:00 PM) at Lotus Art Space – Mugaksa Temple, 230, Uncheon-ro, Seo-gu – Gwangju, South Korea.
About Gwangju Biennale
The Gwangju Biennale is Asia’s largest and oldest contemporary art biennale. The 16th Gwangju Biennale titled You must change your life is curated by Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen and a team of associate curators.
About Fiona Lutjenhuis
Fiona Lutjenhuis (1991) is a Dutch artist based in Amsterdam. Having grown in a sect, she developed a very different view of the world from that of her contemporaries. Turning this upbringing into the main subject of her practice, Lutjenhuis’s work entangles reminiscences of her childhood, family memories, spiritual rituals and otherworldly visions. On the one hand, she celebrates the beauty of imagination, on the other she exposes people’s efforts to find answers beyond the rational, to explain the often harsh reality we find ourselves in. Lutjenhuis studied at ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem (2010-2014) and was a resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam (2022-2024). In 2024, she was nominated for the Scheffer Art Prize and in 2025 for the Prix de Rome. In March 2026 she won the NN Art Award during Art Rotterdam.
About 1646
1646 is a contemporary art space based in The Hague, the Netherlands established in 1995. At 1646, artists are invited to create new work, presented in the context of a solo exhibition.This format offers an in-depth perspective and opens up the artist’s universe. Our program includes artists who invent ‘new worlds’ according to their own logic. They transform the exhibitions into large, space-filling installations, with a strong immersive and visual character. The selected artists use fiction as an instrument to imagine the world differently. They embrace and celebrate complexity, contradiction and paradox – as inherent qualities of human existence. Finally, they use playfulness and humor to invite visitors to maintain an open attitude when engaging with sensitive topics. 1646 encourages artists to experiment and take risks.
Credits
Artist: Fiona Lutjenhuis
Curators: Johan Gustavsson and Clara Pallí Monguilod
Commissioner: 1646 Experimental Art Space, The Hague (NL)
Producer: Collective Office (KR)
Thanks to: Gwangju Biennale and 1646 team, Lotus Art Space, Mugaksa Temple
Supported by: Mondriaan Fund, Municipality of The Hague, het Cultuurfonds, and Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Korea.
