Isabelle Huppert to read Han Kang at Avignon

This summer, nine Korean productions have been officially invited to the Avignon Festival, one of the world’s leading performing arts festivals, which has selected Korean as its official guest language for its 2026 edition.

Held annually in July in the historic city of Avignon, the festival, founded in 1947, draws more than 100,000 visitors and presents a wide range of performances spanning theater, dance, music and interdisciplinary work. The 80th edition of the festival will take place from July 4-25 at major venues across Avignon, France.

It is the first time in 28 years that Korean performing arts works have been included in the festival’s official lineup.

The guest language initiative was introduced by the current artistic director, Tiago Rodrigues, to spotlight the arts and culture of a specific linguistic region. Previous guest languages were English (2023), Spanish (2024) and Arabic (2025).

“The Avignon Festival welcomes an Asian language that is now enjoying worldwide popularity. South Korean culture fascinates the world: K-pop, cinema, series and literature. But beyond this soft power, we want to show the richness of Korean performing arts,” the festival said in a statement last year.

This year’s program will spotlight “We Do Not Part,” the latest acclaimed work by Han Kang, the first Asian woman and the first Korean to win the Nobel Prize in literature. A staged reading featuring the French actor Isabelle Huppert and the Korean actor Lee Hye-young will be presented at the Cour d’Honneur of the Palais des Papes, the festival’s main venue. The production is also scheduled to be performed at the Seoul Performing Arts Festival in October.

The acclaimed theater maker Ku Ja-ha will present three works: “Cuckoo” and “The History of Korean Western Theatre,” part of his “Hamartia” trilogy, as well as “Haribo Kimchi,” offering a glimpse into the contemporary aesthetics of Korean theater. He is the first Asian recipient of the International Ibsen Award, one of the most prestigious honors in theater.

The other works include “Muljil,” an audience-participatory piece by the director Lee Jin-yeop of Elephants Laugh; “The Island Story,” by Creative VaQi, directed by Lee Kyung-sung and set against the backdrop of the Jeju 4.3 uprising; “1 Degree Celsius,” by the choreographer Her Sung-im of Her Project, which explores the realities of the climate crisis; “Long: Yeonhee Project I,” by Liquid Sound, directed by Lee In-bo, blending traditional Korean performance with contemporary dance; and “Snow, Snow, Snow,” a pansori adaptation of a short story by Tolstoy, created and performed by Lee Ja-ram.