BTS continue to expand their push to encourage audiences to think about the world around them through art with the launch of their new 'Connect, BTS' venture, which will find them acting as patrons of a variety of art projects around the world.
"Connect, BTS is a global project to connect five cities and twenty-two artists, each of whom contributes their unique philosophy and imagination to it,” reads an introductory statement on the project's website. “This project aims to redefine the relationships between art and music, the material and immaterial, artists and their audiences, artists and artists, theory and practice. Connect, BTS may be described in terms of a collective curatorial practice by curators around the world who resonated with BTS' philosophy."
Galleries in London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul, and New York will host artistic events throughout January until the end of March. The 'Connect, BTS' project kicked off today (Jan. 14) at London's Serpentine Galleries with the launch of "Catharsis" by Jakob Kudsk Steensen, which will run through March 6. A show in Berlin will open on Wednesday (Jan. 15), followed by one in Buenos Aires on Jan. 21, another in Seoul will on Jan. 28 and the final show in New York on Feb. 5.
A longer description of the event — which begins with an 'It's a truth universally acknowledged…' nod to the opening line of Jane Austen's classic Pride & Prejudice — further describes the project as a way of bringing together the world of hyperconnectivity, through an outgrowth of BTS' legacy as a band that “offers an homage to diversity and originality, a song of special attention to the periphery and the overlooked."
The 'Connect, BTS' project is spearheaded by artistic director Daehung Lee, who curated the Korean Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennial and advisor to the interdisciplinary playground ZER0INE in 2018. He is currently on the jury for the Ars Electronic Festival's STARTS Prize and has served as the art director of Hyundai Motor Company. The likes of Sir Antony Gormley, Ben Vickers, Kay Watson, Stephanie Rosenthal, Noemie Solomon, and Thomas Arnold are all also reportedly involved with bringing 'Connect, BTS' to the world.
The 'Connect, BTS' event launch comes just days ahead of an upcoming new single from BTS due outon Friday (Jan. 17) in advance of their upcoming Map of the Soul: 7 album (Feb. 21).
BTS —-#CONNECT_BTS pic.twitter.com/pmEvI3NVwP
— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) January 13, 2020
For ARMY–#CONNECT_BTS pic.twitter.com/tk2WklDrd7
— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) January 11, 2020