The Flowers of Memory – Bongsu Park

An Exhibition You Can Breathe In

"The Flowers of Memory" is the solo exhibition by Korean artist Bongsu Park, born in Busan and active in London, hosted at MARV – Rubini Vesin Art Museum in Gradara, in the heart of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, in the Marche region. Open from June 6 to July 5, 2026, the exhibition is one of the flagship offerings of the 6th edition of Gradara Contemporanea, the scattered art exhibition that transforms the Malatesta village into a route of international contemporary art each year.

The Concept: Janhyang, Scent, and Echo

The project revolves around the Korean term janhyang, which combines the ideas of resonance and lingering fragrance. Bongsu Park works with a slow, organic process: plants are pressed onto canvas and left for months to release their natural pigments; the dried material is then distilled to extract its scent. This results in works that engage sight, touch, and smell simultaneously, making memory not an abstract concept but a living material, a shared experience, a space to inhabit rather than just observe.

The Exhibition Path

The exhibition is divided into sections. The first rooms present the Janhyang series from 2025, where painting, botanical material, and olfactory composition merge. The final space offers a retrospective look that also includes documentation of some of the artist's performances. Visitors are invited to an immersive and sensory experience, far from mere visual contemplation.

Gradara Contemporanea and MARV

The exhibition is promoted by the Gradara Contemporanea Association together with the Municipality of Gradara and the Marche Nord Museum Network. MARV is housed in the rooms of the eighteenth-century Palazzo Rubini Vesin, on Via Umberto I, and is the civic museum of the Municipality of Gradara. The 2026 edition is part of a larger project that brings four international female artists to four different Italian cities in the same summer, with Bongsu Park specifically dedicated to the sensory dimension.

Curated by

• Curators: Riccardo Freddo and Luca Baroni
• In collaboration with: Rosenfeld Gallery
• Venue: MARV – Rubini Vesin Art Museum, Via Umberto I 9, Gradara (PU)
• Exhibition Series: Gradara Contemporanea, 6th edition

Visiting "The Flowers of Memory" means discovering one of the most original voices in international contemporary art within one of Italy's most beautiful villages, where the Marche Region combines historical heritage and the most current artistic research.