Book and accompanying font are free through April 30th

K-pop superstars BTS have released CONNECT BTS, E-BOOK and CONNECT, BTS FONT that celebrate the first anniversary of the closure of the CONNECT, BTS, an art exhibit that connected 22 contemporary artists across five contents. The book and font are available free online through April 30th with a limited amount of physical copies to be printed and distributed to galleries, artists, and curators who participated in the project.

The e-book is available in both Korean and English. It includes background information on the project, introduction to the artists, and messages from the curators in the form of thorough documentation in text and images. World-renowned scholars who closely followed CONNECT, BTS, such as American art historian W. J. T. Mitchell, Dutch cultural theorist Mieke Bal, Argentine sociologist Maristella Svampa, also contributed to the writing. The e-book shares the records of the project that had “Connect” at its core theme, further conveying the message that “we are still connected.” CONNECT, BTS FONT was designed specifically for the project.

The project bridges fine art with popular art.

“It’s the belief that diversity can create a world where differences do not render us apart but ‘connect’ us together through our uniqueness,” the band shares. “We hope that you can be a part of CONNECT, BTS through this shared belief, and we hope that here is true inspiration awaiting our discovery.”

CONNECT, BTS kicked off on January 14, 2020 and was free to the public. It crossed geographical borders involving different curators who resonated with BTS’ philosophy and message for diversity, connection and communication, and further expanded that message into contemporary arts. The project was carried out under the artistic direction of Korean curator Daehyung Lee (former curator at the Korean Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia 2017) as Ben Vickers and Kay Watson in London, Stephanie Rosenthal and Noemie Solomon in Berlin, and Thomas Arnold in New York led the exhibitions in each city as curators.

CONNECT, BTS involved global artists such as Antony Gormley, Tomás Saraceno, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Ann Veronica Janssens, Yiyun Kang as well as 17 performance artists and teams including Jelili Atiku.

CONNECT, BTS is a global initiative developed in collaboration with curators from five major cities — London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul and New York. The ultimate goal of the project is to connect individuals across the world as they reevaluate their present circumstances, attitudes, and potentialities. CONNECT, BTS draws motifs from parts of BTS’ philosophy that center around diversity, love and care for the periphery. By connecting with 22 contemporary artists, BTS is creating the opportunity for a fruitful and democratic cross-pollination between the worlds of rarefied visual art and pop music.

BTS, an acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan or “Beyond the Scene,” is a South Korean boyband that has been capturing the hearts of millions of fans globally since their debut in June 2013. The members of BTS are RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook. Gaining recognition for their authentic and self-produced music, top-notch performances, and the way they interact with their fans, the band has established themselves as global superstars breaking countless world records. While imparting a positive influence through activities such as the Love Myself campaign and the UN ‘Speak Yourself’ speech, BTS has mobilized millions of fans across the world (named ARMY), topped prominent music charts, performed multiple sold out stadium shows across the world and has been named Time’s Entertainer of the Year in 2020. The GRAMMY-nominated band has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards like the Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.