'Visit Palestine' poster show connects Gaza and Seoul

Posters produced in or for Palestine showing its political history are on display at "Visit Palestine: Seoul Edition" at the exhibition space Faces in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

Posters that once traveled quietly between activists, student groups and solidarity networks are now on the walls of a small gallery in Seoul, inviting visitors to a place many may never see in person: Palestine.

“Visit Palestine: Seoul Edition,” the local edition of the traveling Visit Palestine Poster Project, is on view at Faces, an exhibition space in Yeonnam-dong, through May 4, after an earlier run at CORD in central Seoul from April 1-18.

The show presents 16 posters produced in or for Palestine over the past six decades, selected for how they illuminate its political history while drawing visual connections through symbols and typography in historically resonant imagery.

The project began in Tokyo in June 2021, when Indonesian-born cafe owner Andhika Faisal came across a collection of Palestinian solidarity posters in a secondhand shop. The exhibition first opened in May 2022 and has since toured to more than 20 venues in 15 Japanese cities before traveling to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and now Korea.

"Visit Palestine: Seoul Edition" at the exhibition space Faces in Seoul / Captured from Korean Cultural Alliance for Palestine's Instagram account

The title of the exhibition references a 1936 tourism poster produced by Zionist institutions, which used the slogan “Visit Palestine” to promote Jewish travel and immigration to the territory. Ironically, the slogan has since become a symbol of enduring presence and resistance.

The images encapsulate aspirations for freedom, dignity and independence and have played a key role in communicating the Palestinian struggle to distant audiences.

Similarly, in Korea, posters have long been part of the visual language of resistance, from the 1980s' grassroots pro-democracy movement prints to recent placards calling for the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. During Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, Korean democracy posters have appeared alongside graphics in solidarity with Palestine, creating what organizers describe as a “shared wall” of struggles.

Posters produced in or for Palestine showing the territory's political history are on display at "Visit Palestine: Seoul Edition" at the exhibition space Faces in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

The Seoul edition was organized by Korean Cultural Alliance for Palestine, a group of Korean musicians, visual artists, translators, cultural theorists and filmmakers formed in April 2024 out of street protests against Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

The group also distributes the Korean translation of the poetry collection “Poems from and for Palestine” and materials on the global BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement, aiming to counter what members see as a culture of silence in Korea’s art scene around Palestine.

After President Lee Jae Myung’s recent social media comments against Israel over alleged human rights violations sparked diplomatic tension and an intense public debate at home, organizers said they noticed more visitors arriving “with questions” and seeking out the show as they tried to understand the wider context.

Israel, for its part, has rejected accusations of genocide and war crimes, arguing that its military campaign in Gaza is a response to attacks by Hamas and is carried out in accordance with international law.

“Visit Palestine” runs through May 4 at exhibition space “Faces.”