dianalab, founded in 2016 and led by Baekgu (109, b. 1986) and Yousun (b. 1983), is a collective of artists working across video, sound, and other media that researches and practices modes of expression in collaboration with social minorities. dianalab resists reducing people with disabilities and other marginalized communities to a single, uniform identity. Instead, it considers the nuanced spectrums of their experiences and has continuously explored environments and works that can be created together with them.
 
The collective regards accessibility as an essential element of artistic creation—not only in terms of physical space, but also in capturing fleeting moments or delicately shaping even the invisible air—pursuing practices that sensitize us to the many unseen boundaries within our society.

Their work begins with the obstacles and discriminatory moments they encountered while teaching students at NODEUL Popular School for Disabled People. Prompted by the discomforts experienced in public spaces designed primarily for non-disabled individuals, dianalab initiated the project ‘We Welcome All,’ with the aim of creating spaces where people with disabilities could move together without barriers.
 
Launched in 2018, ‘We Welcome All’ is a public project that identifies spaces in which social minorities can be received as equal individuals without discrimination within local communities, and shares these places by mapping them.
 
Alongside the work of discovering and fostering everyday spaces where minorities can feel at ease by lowering physical and psychological barriers, dianalab has also begun creating sensory environments through art—environments that cultivate imagination and empathy toward others.

The project ‘Fragments of Hospitality’ (2020–) began in this way and has since unfolded through collaborations with 51 artists/teams in Korea and abroad, along with some 80–90 participants who engaged in various forms. In 2020, the individual sculptural works of each participating artist were gathered on the web platform ‘Fragments of Hospitality 1444.’ Building on this, the project was presented in multiple forms—including exhibitions and performances—in “accessible spaces within local communities” in 2021.
 
The web platform ‘Fragments of Hospitality 1444’ sought to enhance accessibility by providing the project description and artist information in sign language, Korean, English, and large-font text. Moreover, the collective aimed to carry out the project in ways that operated as independently as possible from large-scale capital and institutional systems.

Nevertheless, the web-based platform inevitably excluded those without access to the internet. As an alternative, dianalab experimented with receiving works through airmail rather than digital data transmission. Yet, since this too could not resolve all of the issues, they went on to organize the offline exhibition 《Sense of Invitation》 (Post Territory Ujeongguk, 2021).

The exhibition 《Sense of Invitation》 explored multiple questions surrounding the notion of “invitation”—from who is invited and who does the inviting, to the broader issues connected with the term—expressed through a variety of sensory forms. In order to ensure accessibility for everyone invited into the exhibition space, dianalab began by considering the physical environment in which each work would exist, and then reflected on how the content and form of the works could be made accessible to all.
 
For instance, they asked how a work made of visual imagery might be translated and conveyed to someone distant from visual perception, or how a sound piece could reach visitors who have difficulty perceiving sound. Participating artists shared in these questions and presented works that translated across senses—visual, tactile, auditory, and olfactory—each in distinct ways.

From the very beginning of the creative process, the works were made with consideration for “those who may not be able to access this work.” Accordingly, the exhibition included pieces that could be experienced through sign language interpretation videos via QR codes, audio guides, explanations by attendants, as well as vibrations and tactile elements.
 
The exhibition space needed to be either a ‘We Welcome All’ store or a location that met its accessibility standards. Post Territory Ujeongguk, where 《Sense of Invitation》 was held, allowed access for wheelchairs, strollers, and animals, provided wheelchair-accessible gender-neutral restrooms, and committed to non-discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals and people with developmental disabilities.
 
At the entrance, visitors found an audio guide describing the entire exhibition, a screen with sign language interpretation, Braille leaflets, and Korean and English leaflets in large text. Throughout the exhibition, accessibility attendants were present daily to assist visitors.

In this way, 《Sense of Invitation》 also served as an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which both creators and audiences experience and interpret the concepts of “invitation” and “hospitality.” Building on this exhibition, the ‘Fragments of Hospitality’ project established and applied a minimal model for exhibition accessibility.
 
Since then, ‘Fragments of Hospitality’ has continued through subsequent exhibitions, performances, and workshops that adopt the accessibility model introduced in 《Sense of Invitation》, consistently creating spaces where participants can share and engage with the sensory experiences of others.

Among these, the exhibition 《Signals from the Harbor (항구로부터, 신호)》, held at SPACE bisugi in Gangjeong-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju island, was created collaboratively by local residents, artists with disabilities, and minority audiences. Like a harbor where ships from different places converge, the exhibition became a space where diverse individuals—who might seem unrelated—could come together, listen to each other’s signals, and engage with one another’s presence, allowing everyone to be welcomed as they are.

Meanwhile, at the group exhibition 《Local in the Making》 held at ARKO Art Center in 2022, dianalab presented a collaborative work with Japanese filmmaker Ueta Jiro and blblbg.
 
First, the video work created with Ueta Jiro, We have encountered fences before (2022), consists of interviews with seven individuals loosely connected to the ‘We Welcome All’ project. The video discusses not only people with and without disabilities, but also human and non-human entities, addressing the intersectionality operating among diverse minorities.
 
This work, too, was made accessible for audiences with visual or auditory impairments or language barriers, through audio description, sign language interpretation, and subtitles.

The tactile map work Nameless on the Map (2022), created in collaboration with blblbg, also originated from the ‘We Welcome All’ project. Rather than aiming to create a perfectly discrimination-free store, this work was conceived as a way to imagine and explore methods for creating moments of non-discrimination, presenting the ideas of the ‘We Welcome All’ project through multiple senses.
 
Stories from various minority participants connected to the project were transcribed into Braille, and the tactile map was produced through the hands of a diverse group—including students and teachers from NODEUL Popular School for Disabled People, residents of facilities for people with severe disabilities, fellow artists, designers, filmmakers, and editors. In addition, sound was installed so that the same content could be experienced through audio.

In addition, dianalab conducted a performance based on this tactile map that explored reading and conveying information through senses other than language. The performance involved three performers, three stenographers, and three sign language interpreters, each interpreting the invisible, unreadable map in their own way, revealing the differences and delays inherent in each mode of translation.
 
To allow participation by minority audiences, the performance was presented in a barrier-conscious, relaxed format: lighting levels were kept consistent, loud sounds were avoided, and visitors were free to step in and out or make sounds during the performance.

Subsequently, dianalab collaborated with the 0set project to carry out various accessibility-related programs at the Seosomun Main Building of the Seoul Museum of Art. These included lectures on accessibility for museum staff, workshops in which visitors, staff, and artists explored the space together to assess its accessibility, and multiple interviews with visually impaired participants. Drawing on these activities, dianalab curated an exhibition that addressed diverse attitudes and practices related to accessibility.

The 2024 exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art, 《How dare you think that I don’t have red?》, began from the perspective that accessibility is not something to be resolved simply by adding accommodations to existing spaces designed primarily for non-disabled visitors. Rather, it arises through a process of reflecting on the root of the issue, the social norms that surround us, and the boundaries implied by the concept of “we.”
 
In this context, dianalab approached accessibility not as a problem to be completely solved (barrier-free), but as a process of engaging with and sensing diverse others and the boundaries between us (barrier-conscious).

The exhibition was shaped by stories collected through prior programs from a diverse range of participants, including visually impaired visitors, wheelchair users, people with hearing impairments, and non-disabled individuals who are also curators, artists, and audience members. Among the works, Lost Map (길을 잃은 지도) (2024) features a tactile map table created using 3D printing, with speakers installed on top. It reproduces the kind of tactile map that visually impaired people often encounter—offering very little usable information and making it difficult to navigate in practice.
 
From the installed speakers, multiple voices—reconstructed from interviews with visually impaired participants—were played in sequence. The content begins with discussions about tactile maps, museums, accessibility, and artworks, and extends to reflections on non-disabled-centric perspectives. All of these audio messages were also provided in Braille and raised Korean script, placed next to the work.

Through a series of accessibility-focused projects conducted with the 0set project, dianalab came to realize that differences inevitably arise between senses when translating from one sense to another, making full transmission of experience impossible.
 
Building on this insight, dianalab presented works at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in 2025 for 《Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now》, focusing on individual senses—such as vision, hearing, and sign language—creating pieces that exist independently without relying on a single original source.

The series of new works under the title ‘tikkl’ (2025) deals with what happens around these boundaries. The works focus on the moment when an otherwise invisible line, wall, or fence is suddenly made visible, something that cannot usually be seen, heard, or touched but nonetheless exists.
 
The narrative follows three characters living in different times and spaces, each confined by a different boundary. Through their encounters with one another, they find comfort and manage to cross the walls that enclose them. Comprising a sound installation, a single-channel video, a three-channel video, and wall drawings, the project includes contributions from members of minority communities. Braille descriptions of the work are placed together within the exhibition space.
 
In this way, dianalab has created environments where people with diverse identities can come into contact with and experience friction at each other’s boundaries. They suggest that such encounters and interactions can generate imagination about others. Building on this, dianalab continues its artistic practice by creating spaces and moments where invisible boundaries can be sensed, allowing individuals to reveal themselves and share a sense of being welcomed simply for who they are.

 ”It seems that the direction of our work is to continuously create points of contact and moments of encounter between social minorities and non-disabled people."    (dianalab, from an artist interview for 《Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now》 at the MMCA) 

dianalab is a collective founded in 2016, composed of baekgu (109, b. 1986) and Yousun (b. 1983). The collective has presented works across various media through public projects such as ‘Fragments for Barrier-Consciousness’ (2022–), ‘Fragments of Hospitality’ (2020–), ‘Parade Zine Zine Zine’ (2019), and ‘We Welcome All’ (2018–).
 
Major solo exhibitions include 《How dare you think that I don’t have red?》 (Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, 2024) and 《Sense of Invitation》 (Post Territory Ujeongguk, Seoul, 2021). dianalab has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including 《Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now》 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, 2025), 《Local in the Making》 (ARKO Art Center, Seoul, 2022), and the 2021 ARKO Art & Tech Festival 《Nothing Makes Itself》 (ARKO Art Center, Seoul, 2021).

References

• 다이애나랩, 인스타그램 (dianalab, Instagram)
• 국립현대미술관, 작가인터뷰 | 다이애나랩 | 젊은 모색 2025: 지금, 여기 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), ARTIST INTERVIEW | dianalab | Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now)
• 차별없는가게 (We Welcome All)
• 웹진이음, 초대의 감각, 2021.09.17
• 탈영역우정국, [서문] 초대의 감각 (Post Territory Ujeongguk, [Preface] Sense of Invitation)
• 파이낸셜뉴스, "비장애인 중심 사회서 장애인 이해하기 쉽지 않죠", 2023.01.01
• 서울시립미술관, [전시 소개] 나에게 빨강이 없다고 생각할 수 있어요? (Seoul Museum of Art, [Exhibition Overview] How dare you think that I don't have red?)
• 국립현대미술관, [리플렛] 젊은 모색 2025: 지금, 여기 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), [Reflet] Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now)