The art world, in context
News and developments across South Korea.
Image: ArtskExhibitions · Fairs · Seoul
Mazzoleni collaborates with Massimo De Carlo on 'Italy at Frieze: The Golden Trace', the third edition of the Italian Embassy's Frieze Seoul exhibition, which opened September 1, 2026 at the ambassador's residence.
Source date ·Museums · Exhibitions · Busan
Opening September 17, 2026, the international group exhibition 'Future Museology' anchors the Busan Museum of Art's return after a two-year renovation, with participants including Ars Electronica, TBA21 and C-LAB.
Image: ArtskP21 in Seoul presents Yang Jung Uk's first solo exhibition with the gallery, 'People in Prayer,' introducing two new series conceived for the show. The exhibition runs through October 10, 2026.
Source date ·An exhibition marking ten years of excavation at the Gimhae Bonghwang-dong site opened on 29 September 2026, running through 21 November.
A joint conference on Hoeamsa in Yangju brought together some 200 participants across archaeology, art history and conservation science, with six research presentations.
Published 20 September 2026: Buk-Seoul Museum of Art's 'Parallel Views: Art in Conversation' — pairing visually impaired and non-impaired visitors — makes SeMA the first Korean art institution to receive CIMAM's Outstanding Museum Practice Award.
Supported by Arts Council Korea's ArtKorealab, three Korean art-technology teams presented video, kinetic installation, percussion and laser works at Melbourne's Now or Never festival.
A Man Asleep, a solo exhibition of 29 new works by Kim Inbai, is on view at ARARIO Gallery Seoul through 24 October.
Frieze Seoul wrapped its fifth edition at COEX on September 5 with more than 70,000 visitors and representatives from 178 museums, its widest international reach yet. Opening-day sales included a €1.1 million Adrian Ghenie painting.
Source date ·Museums · Exhibitions · Seoul
Do Ho Suh's solo exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul runs through February 9, 2027, with weekly booking slots selling out and daily attendance capped at 6,000. On current pace, cumulative attendance could approach 800,000 — a single-exhibition record for the museum.
Source date ·Reporting by Rémy Jarry (11 September 2026): at the fifth Frieze Seoul and 25th Kiaf, Kukje Gallery sold a 1971 Yoo Youngkuk painting for KRW 2.2–2.5 billion — a record for Korean art at Frieze Seoul — while Dansaekhwa names and international blue chips also performed strongly.
Image: ArtskMuseums · Exhibitions · Seoul
APMA presents 'Sol LeWitt: Open Structure', the first large-scale Korean retrospective of the Conceptual art pioneer, with 45 works including 13 wall drawings realized by Korean art students under the LeWitt Estate's guidance, running September 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027.
