Aqua Paradiso continues as a 2026 touring exhibition at Korean Cultural Centres in India and Australia. Originally curated in 2022 by the National Asian Culture Center, the contemporary art project explores water from ecological and philosophical perspectives, featuring works by Korean artists Hyewon Kwon, Boo Jihyun, and Eunhae Jung.
Originally mounted as a three-month exhibition in Gwangju by the National Asian Culture Center (ACC), Aqua Paradiso now reaches international audiences through the Touring K-Arts
project. The touring edition is supported by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE). It is hosted and organized by the Korean Cultural Centre Australia, the ACC, and the National Asian Culture Center Foundation (ACCF).
Exploring Water and Perceptions in the Anthropocene
The exhibition brings together contemporary art to examine water not merely as a resource or a backdrop, but as a sensory presence and an ecological actor. According to the exhibition materials, ancient civilizations viewed water as an emotional product of transcendent deities that harbored feelings of the sublime. Industrial civilization later reduced water to an object to be controlled, a shift in perception that the exhibition links to current climate disasters and ecological collapse.
AQUA PARADISO is now on at the Korean Cultural Centre Australia.Featuring Korean artists Jihyun Boo, Hyewon Kwon and eco orot, the exhibition explores water through aesthetic, philosophical and ecological perspectives. pic.twitter.com/SdW5TnjLIO
Through diverse visual languages, the featured Korean artists address the dynamics of water and the transformative sensibilities of the Anthropocene era. The works seek to recover lost perceptions and contemplate ecological balance, the place of human beings, and our mutual relationship with nature.
Artistic Installations by Boo Jihyun, Hyewon Kwon, and Eco Orot
Hyewon Kwon presents Liquid Vision
, a video installation functioning as a speculative documentary from the perspective of an extraterrestrial exploration robot probing Earth’s aquatic ecosystems. The technological gaze redefines sensory relationships between humans, machines, and the environment.
Meanwhile, the eco-artist collective eco orot uses marine plastic debris collected from Jeju’s shores for its works. Plastic Mandala
employs the symbolic cycle of the mandala to create a space where extinction coexists with return, serving as an apology to nature and a prayer for wounded lives. This is paired with Ocean Tears
, an installation featuring hundreds of glass bottles filled with microplastics.
Inquiries regarding the exhibition can be directed to Yukyung Jang at the Korean Cultural Centre Australia via email at [email protected].
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