Lee Ufan's 'Relatum' Transforms Palais des Papes with Minimalist Installations

Korean minimalist master Lee Ufan (born 1936) has installed five works at the Palais des Papes in Avignon, running until November 15, 2026. The exhibition 'Relatum' was mounted urgently in two and a half months after the originally planned show for the 80th Avignon Festival by Macha Makeïeff was canceled in early May due to administrative constraints. The centerpiece is 'Relatum – Primitive Room' in the Grande Chapelle, covering 650 square meters with slate slabs and rudimentary stone cairns that echo the 20-meter-high Gothic vaults. 65 tons of slate were used. In the Grand Tinel, five white canvases with fading color traces are displayed. In the Chapelle Saint-Martial, a single stone sits before the altar. In the haute cuisine, a mirrored structure creates the illusion of a well with a thread linking sky and earth. A giant steel ring stands in the cloître Benoît XII. Lee Ufan, who turned 90 in Avignon, stated that at the era of AI, one must reconquer time, process, and experience, and that art's responsibility is to find dialogue between interior and exterior. The project was initiated by the Fondation Lee Ufan Arles, directed by Alain Lombard.