Today the Serpentine Pavilion inaugurates its 2024 opening, “Archipelagic Void”. The Serpentine has been promoting art and the visualisation of international architects for more than 20 years in Westminster, London.
Since 2000, the now known as the Serpentine, was previously divided into two galleries, the Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, and Serpentine North, previously known as the Sackler Gallery. The South gallery was built as a tea house in the 1930s and the North gallery in 1804 as a powder shop. Although renovated in the 70s, since the beginning of the new millennium, a competition has been held annually where a new architect, who must not have previously built in England, has the opportunity to build in a period of only 6 months, a pavilion that can be visited for free during the summer months. Both the North and South galleries that have a five-minute walk distance, host itinerant art exhibitions.
This year 2024, the chosen architect has been the South Korean Minsuk Cho with his proposal “Archipelagic Void“. This building with an expiration date is inspired by a group of islands, as its name indicates, where empty spaces will be used and take reference from the “madang”, a style of patio that could be found in old Korean houses and that Cho has chosen as a tribute to his land. This construction in the form of a constellation, seeks to take advantage of the spaces through small buildings, in order to use these spaces for the events that will take place during the months of the brief life of this building. The lifespan of this archipelago will begin on June 7 for the entire public and will end on October 27, 2024.
While the “Archipelagic Void” is growing, the Serpentine, both the South and North galleries, have exhibitions that can be visited. In the Southern gallery, “Yinka Sonibare CBE: Suspended States” is now open until September 1, an exhibition where the traces of colonialism and imperialism in the environment are explored. On the other hand, from May 23 to September 1 in the North Gallery “Judy Chicago Revelations” will be exhibited, where you can admire works of art by Chicago that establishes women within the Western cultural canon, in addition to other exhibitions that will be held after these two in the upcoming months.