Lee Bae – La Maison de la Lune Brûlée, a Collateral Event of the 2024 Biennale Arte, presents the South Korean artist’s exploration of a centuries-old ritual known as Moonhouse Burning or daljip taeug, deeply rooted in South Korea.
The Wilmotte Foundation, founded in 2005 by renowned French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, is committed to promoting exhibition projects, particularly in architecture but not exclusively, with special attention to young talents, at all its international locations. This has been the case for years in Venice, in the heart of Cannaregio. Normally, the Foundation presents projects that it has produced or directly endorsed and promoted. However, on rare occasions, when a project truly merits it, it hosts independent projects, not necessarily closely tied to the Foundation. Such is the case this year with the Collateral Event of the 60th Biennale Arte, Lee Bae – La Maison de la Lune Brûlée, organized by Hansol Foundation – Museum SAN and curated by Valentina Buzzi.
The exhibition showcases South Korean artist Lee Bae’s exploration of the centuries-old ritual known as Moonhouse Burning or daljip taeug, deeply embedded in South Korean culture. This ritual, which takes place on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, coincides with the first full moon of the year and brings the entire community together in a unique and symbolic celebration of cyclical cosmology. The project is centered on the intrinsic connection between humans and the natural world, which the exhibition examines through themes of renewal, circularity, and the harmonious rhythms of nature, transcending the contemporary nature/culture dichotomy.
The ritual is captured and reflected through a video artwork, Burning (2024), projected via seven projectors on the walls of the entrance corridor of the Foundation leading to the exhibition hall. Inside, transformed into a vast and enveloping white cube, which visitors are invited to walk through barefoot, they encounter several installations, including Brushstroke (2024), which unfolds across both the floor and the walls, covered in white paper using a special technique called marouflage. These works are painted with charcoal ink derived from the wood burned in the Moonhouse Burning ritual. At the center of the space stands an imposing monolith sculpted from black Zimbabwean granite, Meok (2024), which serves as a focal point for meditation and reflection. This monumental sculpture evokes the traditional Korean ink stick, historically used in Korean academic and cultural circles as a means of transmitting knowledge across generations.
The final piece in the hall is the canvas work Issu du Feu (2024), where fragments of charcoal are transformed into mosaics with contrasting reflections and opacities. The exhibition space as a whole offers a moment to experience what Asian philosophies recognize as “negative space”: our essence, and that of others, manifests through an absence that complements the burning force of the video work.
As visitors exit the hall, they pass through an ephemeral structure, Moon (2024), whose path leads towards the Venetian waters. The route symbolizes renewal and connection with the atmosphere of Cheong-do, which characterizes the moon-burning ritual. Lee Bae’s exhibition allows for an inner journey into the timeless wisdom of Korean philosophy, raising essential questions about the central role of ancient traditions in our present.
