A painting called Aquí y ahora has earned Bucaramanga-born artist Silvia Peña an Excellence Award in Painting at South Korea's 12th Geoje International Art Festival — and her season in Korea isn't stopping there. She's also an invited artist at the 23rd Busan International Environment Art Festival, meaning two of her works will appear in separate Korean exhibitions across the 2026-27 season.
The Geoje festival runs under the theme "Culture and Art – Joining Hands" and gathers artists from more than 60 countries. It's organised by the Haegeumgang Theme Museum and the Yukyung Art Museum on Geoje Island, off Korea's southern coast, with the opening exhibition set for October 20. Peña is one of eight Colombian painters, sculptors and installation artists winning Excellence Awards this edition; 20 Colombian artists are taking part overall, from departments as varied as Santander, Antioquia, Cundinamarca and Vaupés. Beyond the awards, the wider programme includes 21 invited international artists and a cultural tour through four Korean cities.
There's a deeper story behind her trip. Peña's father, Alirio Peña, served in Korea with the Batallón Colombia during the 1950-53 Korean War — Colombia was the only Latin American country to send troops. Seven decades later, his daughter is returning not as a soldier's child on footnotes but as a working artist: at the Geoje opening she'll stage an artistic action honouring Colombian and Korean veterans and donate a work to the Haegeumgang Museum. She has already donated a piece at a veterans' gala earlier this year supporting veteran Luis Rosendo Restrepo Bedoya.
Next comes Busan. BIEAF 2026, running from September 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027 under the theme "From the Sun to the Boy," focuses on art exploring humanity, nature and the environment. It's a big-stage event: 849 artists from 84 countries were selected from 989 applicants, with exhibitions in the city plus an online gallery. Peña is showing a different work there from her prize-winning Geoje painting.
None of it came easily. She spent three months in Bogotá pitching institutions and raising support for the journey — a reminder that even award-winning international careers are built on unglamorous groundwork.
Why should travellers care? Because Geoje and Busan are quietly becoming a fall-to-winter art circuit worth building a Korea trip around. Geoje Island, better known for shipyards and beaches than museums, hosts two serious art venues and an international festival every autumn. Busan, Korea's second city, pairs this environmental art festival with its famous beach districts, fish markets and the nearby Gamcheon Culture Village. Timing a visit between October and February lets you catch both events — and, this season, see a thread of Colombian history woven into Korea's contemporary art scene.
Story via Colombia One.
