Standing with Myanmar

Abstract Since the military coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, South Korean artists and exhibit makers have tapped into the power of art activism to support the Burmese struggle for democracy. This essay pays special attention to two of the earliest exhibitions held in Gwangju, a southwestern hub in the peninsula that since May 1980 has been widely been known as a site of civil resistance. With a focus on each show's narrative and audience engagement in relation to the historic meaning of Gwangju, this essay considers the limits of transnational solidarity imagined through art activism, revealing solidarities that reinforce either the nation-state as primary in defining political subjectivity or the universalist humanism at their core. Although these shows allow the empathic positioning of artists to a certain degree, their activism does not necessarily provide meaningful means of building south-south partnership.