Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion
La Biennale di Venezia, Venice
May 10 – November 23, 2025

The Korean Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia marks its 30th anniversary with Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion, an exhibition that critically examines the architectural significance and sustainability of the Korean Pavilion. Commissioned by Arts Council Korea (ARKO) and curated by CAC (Curating Architecture Collective: Chung Dahyoung, Kim Heejung, Jung Sungkyu), the exhibition features four architects and artists – Kim Hyunjong, Heechan Park, Young Yena, and Lee Dammy – who reinterpret the pavilion through newly commissioned works.

Since its completion in 1995, the Korean Pavilion has existed as both a physical structure and a conceptual space for national representation at the Biennale Arte and the Biennale Architettura. This exhibition reexamines the meaning of the pavilion, reflecting on its past trajectory while exploring its future. Through a critical lens, Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion investigates the pavilion’s layered histories, its cultural and political contexts, and its role within the ever-evolving landscape of La Biennale di Venezia.

The Korean Pavilion takes its architecture as its subject of exploration, commemorating the structure’s 30th anniversary. By revisiting the motivations behind its establishment and its transformation over time, the exhibition interrogates the idea of the pavilion as a house – both literal and metaphorical – that accommodates shifting perspectives on space, history, and memory.

Borrowing its title from the Korean folk song Little Toad, Little Toad (Dukkeoba, Dukkeoba), the exhibition embraces the song’s fabular and playful qualities as a narrative device. Traditionally sung during children’s mud play, the song evokes themes of construction and transformation. Its references to an “old house” and a “new house” parallel the Korean Pavilion’s past and future at this milestone moment. Meanwhile, the crisis of a “house on fire” invites reflection on the dilemmas faced by the pavilion – situating its history within a broader discourse on climate change, sustainability, and the evolving role of national pavilions at the Biennale International Architecture Exhibition.

The unseen narrator of the exhibition, the toad, is a mythical being symbolizing metamorphosis and regeneration – figures present across both Eastern and Western traditions. In this exhibition, the toad serves as a conceptual guide, awakening the ancient, shared heritage of the Giardini: the trees, the earth, the sky, and the sea. Through this lens, the exhibition reimagines the transformation and regeneration that lie ahead not only for the Korean Pavilion but for La Biennale di Venezia itself.

Through site-responsive installations, the participating architects and artists engage in a process of unbuilding and reassembling the Korean Pavilion to reveal its overlooked values and meanings. Their works interrogate the physical and conceptual structures of the pavilion, offering speculative interventions that critically reflect on its legacy and possible futures.

Curating Architecture Collective (CAC) is a curatorial group dedicated to exploring the intersections of architecture, text, objects, and space. Founded by Chung Dahyoung, Kim Heejung, and Jung Sungkyu, CAC operates as a collaborative platform that bridges architecture and design, fostering academic and artistic exploration through significant exhibitions and research-driven projects.

more. www.korean-pavilion.or.kr