Ayala Museum expressed interest in the global art project of Korean boy group BTS which kicked off early this week.
The initiative, called Connect, BTS, seeks to introduce a series of critically acclaimed art productions in five locations in the world via an online database.
Ayala Museum suggested including Manila in the group’s list of venues and tagged the group’s official Twitter account.
“Hey, BTS, how about having a Manila project? Maybe we can help you out with that?” the account said on January 15.
hey @BTS_twt, how about having a manila project? maybe we can help you out with that 😉#CONNECT_BTS https://t.co/decIofx2Q9
— Ayala Museum (@ayalamuseum) January 15, 2020
The tweet soon made rounds on the micro-blogging platform over 3,200 times.
Connect, BTS involves 22 artists and will take place in five locations are the cities of London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul and New York City.
The members themselves comprising RM (Kim Namjoon), Suga (Min Yoongi), J-Hope (Jung Hoseok), Jin (Kim Seokjin), Jimin (Park Jimin), V (Kim Taehyung) and Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook) are the main financiers for the artists’ works.
It’s not certain if they will add more locations and artists in the coming months.
Artworks from two of the five cities have been revealed so far.
The first one was the digital installation by Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen titled “Catharsis” in London, which was revealed on January 14.
CATHARSIS is running at @SerpentineUK for two months. If you cannot see it in person it is available on https://t.co/5KA5MMFuvI – you can tune in to listen and watch the virtual forest. #CONNECT_BTS #serpentinedigital #jakobkudsksteensen @SerpentineUK @bts_bighit pic.twitter.com/qB1mWjEHw9
— Jakob Kudsk Steensen (@Jakob_steensen) January 15, 2020
The next day, the performance program called “Rituals of Care” by Stephanie Rosenthal and Noémie Solomon opened in Berlin.
Here is the rest of the schedule: Buenos Aires (January 21), Seoul (January 28) and New York City (February 5).
According to the website, Connect, BTS is an art movement that connects these cities “redefine their relationships between art and music, the material and immaterial, artists and their audiences, artists and artists, and theory and practice.”
Daehyung Lee, the artistic director, said in an interview that the motive for this inter-regional endeavor is solidarity.
“We can connect with people at opposite ends of the world but we sometimes forget to communicate with our own neighbors or relatives. We are losing solidarity, we have forgotten how to communicate properly with each other,” he said to the Guardian.
This is part of the award-winning septet’s promotional activities until the release of their next album on February 21.
#BTS #방탄소년단 MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 COMEBACK MAP#MAP_OF_THE_SOUL_7 pic.twitter.com/YRBGLGI9bN
— BigHit Entertainment (@BigHitEnt) January 8, 2020
