Artist_News Artist Lee Kang So Awarded the Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit
On November 7, pioneering experimental artist Lee Kang So was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit (Bogwan Medal) by the Government of the Republic of Korea. The Order of Cultural Merit is the highest honor bestowed by the Korean government, recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of culture and the arts.
Artist_News Artist YoungEun Kim Named Winner of ACC’s “2026 ACC Future Prize”
The National Asian Culture Center (ACC), an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and led by Executive director Kim Sangug, has officially announced YoungEun Kim as the recipient of the ‘2026 ACC Future Prize.’
2025.10.28
Artist_News Artist Hoonida Kim Received an Honorary Mention at the ‘Prix Ars Electronica 2025’
Media artist Hoonida Kim’s work Fine-Tuning Human Sense 2.0 has received an Honorary Mention in the Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence category at the Prix Ars Electronica, one of the world’s most prestigious awards in media art.
Museum_News MMCAㆍSMA Joint Publication Project – “MMCA Studies X Stedelijk Studies: Generating Production” to Be Published
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA; Director Kim Sunghee) and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (SMA) in the Netherlands will jointly publish “MMCA Studies × Stedelijk Studies: Generating Production” on Monday, 1 December 2025, as the result of a year-long collaborative research and publishing project.
2025.11.11
Museum_News Pre-opening Program Announced for the Upcoming 'SeMA Seo-Seoul Museum of Art,' Scheduled to Open in the First Half of 2026
The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), led by Director Choi Eun Ju, will host a pre-opening program titled 《Performance and the Art Museum》 from November 9 (Sun) to December 7 (Sun) at SeMA’s Seosomun Main Branch, its satellite branches, and various venues in Geumcheon-gu, ahead of the official opening of the SeMA Seo-Seoul Museum of Art in the first half of 2026.
Museum_News MMCA × LG Electronics to Host “Connected” Concert Linking Art and Technology
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA, Director Kim Sunghee) will host the new participatory concert MMCA × LG Electronics “Connected” on Wednesday, October 29 at 6 p.m. in the outdoor courtyard of MMCA Seoul.
2025.10.21
Museum_News SeMA Launches Korea’s First Sensory Kits, ‘Modeun Gabang’
The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) has unveiled ‘Modeun Gabang,’ the first sensory-based visitor kit permanently available in a Korean museum, and officially opened a new education-focused space, SeMA L, which aims to expand the paradigm of education and accessibility. SeMA L was piloted as an education-exclusive space in 2024.
Nonprofit_News ARKO Opens 2026 Call for Korea’s Largest Arts and Culture Grant Program
The Arts Council Korea (ARKO) has opened applications for its 2026 Arts Promotion Fund support programs. Next year’s open call encompasses a total of 26 programs across diverse fields, with a total budget of KRW 61.3 billion.
Nonprofit_News Korean Selected as the Official Guest Language for the 2026 Festival d’Avignon
Korean has been selected as the official guest language for next year’s Festival d’Avignon, the world’s largest performing arts festival held annually in Avignon, France. This marks the first time an Asian language has been chosen, and the only instance in which a single national language has received this distinction.
Biennale_News See Art Festival 2025 “Undercurrents: Waves Walking on the Water” Opens on September 27
The Busan Biennale Organizing Committee has announced that the Sea Art Festival 2025 will take place under the theme 《Undercurrents: Waves Walking on the Water》 at Dadaepo Beach and its surrounding areas from September 27 to November 2, spanning a total of 37 days.
Art Market_News South Korea’s MCST Plans to Implement Art Policies for the Continued Growth of the Korean Art Market, Which Exceeded 1 Trillion KRW in 2022
Over the past year, many local experts predicted that the size of the Korean art market would surpass 1 trillion KRW (Korean won) in 2022. This speculation has turned out to be true, as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) announced on January 4, 2023, that the size of the art market in 2022 was estimated to be 1.0377 trillion KRW (approximately $1 billion USD).
Gallery_News Korea’s First Sculpture-Dedicated Gallery ‘Space Tone’ Opens in Hapjeong, Seoul
Korea’s first sculpture- dedicated gallery, Space Tone (S.tone), has opened in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. While most sculpture-dedicated venues in Korea are located on the outskirts of Seoul due to the scale and weight of the works, Space Tone stands out as a space situated in the heart of the city—offering visitors the opportunity to encounter sculpture naturally in their everyday lives.
2025.11.18
Gallery_News Five Young Galleries to Watch in Seoul, Picked by ARTnews
On September 1, ARTnews, the American art magazine, spotlighted five emerging Seoul galleries to watch. Unlike the city’s more traditional galleries, these new spaces stand out for their distinctive sense of place and independent programs. The ARTnews highlighted PS CENTER, WWNN, Shower, Sangheeut, and Xlarge.
Gallery_News Gallery Hyundai Selected Among “The 10 Best Booths at Art Basel 2025”
Gallery Hyundai’s booth (G13) at Art Basel 2025 has been selected by Artsy as one of “The 10 Best Booths at Art Basel 2025.” The featured presentation is a solo booth dedicated to Seung-taek Lee, a pioneering figure in Korean experimental art, and is the only solo presentation among the ten selected booths.
2025.07.01
Gallery_News ‘Frieze House Seoul,’ a New Exhibition Platform, to Open This September
The global art fair Frieze is set to open a new exhibition platform, Frieze House Seoul, this September in the Yaksu-dong in Seoul. Modeled after No.9 Cork Street, Frieze’s permanent exhibition space in London, this venue will host a year-round program of curated exhibitions, performances, and short-term residencies.
Auction_News Seoul Auction to Host ‘Connect Seoul 2024’ During Frieze·Kiaf Seoul Week
Seoul Auctions hosts ‘Connect Seoul 2024,’ a series of exhibitions and events from August 24 to September 13 at its Gangnam Center, to coincide with Frieze-Kiaf Seoul Week. Connect Seoul consists of two special exhibitions highlighting major Korean and international artists of modern and contemporary art, a group exhibition of media art, and a preview of upcoming auctions.
2024.09.03
Auction_News SBI Art Auction to Host Its First Overseas Auction Preview at Art Chosun Space in Seoul
Japan’s SBI Art Auction will present its first overseas auction preview, "Early Highlight Viewing in Seoul," from October 1 to 6 at Art Chosun Space (ACS) in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. The preview is part of the "68th SBI Art Auction | MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART" to be held on October 25 and 26.
2024.08.13
Auction_News Global Auction House Phillips Appoints Lim Yeon-ah to Lead the Korean office
On the 5th, Phillips, one of the world’s top three auction houses, appointed Lim Yeon-ah as the head of its Korean office.
Since joining Phillips in 2020, she has overseen Phillips exhibitions during the Frieze Seoul art fair over the past two years.
Auction_News Christie’s First Exhibition in South Korea, What Does This Mean for the Local Art Market?
The booming Korean art market attracts many international art galleries and art fairs to Seoul. World-renowned galleries, including König Galerie, Thaddeus Ropac, and Gladstone Gallery, have opened a branch in Seoul, and Frieze has partnered with Kiaf SEOUL to hold art fairs in Seoul for five years from this year.
Art Fair_News FRIEZE’s Top Exhibitions of 2022: The Busan Biennale 2022, Sung Hwan Kim’s Solo Exhibition, and More
The year 2023 has arrived, and the art world is analyzing the keywords and trends that characterized the art world in 2022. It is impossible to discuss the Korean art world of 2022 without mentioning Kiaf and Frieze Seoul’s joint art fair, as many of the events in the country revolved around this inaugural edition. For thematic shows, Sculptural Impulse at the Seoul Museum of Art was frequently mentioned as the most noteworthy contemporary art exhibition, while MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2022: Choe U-Ram – Little Ark was one of the most mentioned solo exhibitions last year.
2023.01.09
Art Fair_News Frieze Reveals the Participants of the Very First Frieze Seoul
Frieze Seoul is approaching in just two months. As one of the largest global art fairs, Frieze has been making its way to Asia and announced its entry into South Korea last year. And finally, the inaugural edition of the fair’s programs and gallery list was revealed on June 29.
2022.11.07
Art Fair_News Art Basel’s Swiss Fair Returned "In Person"
Art Basel, one of the world’s largest international art fairs, was held from September 24 to 26 in Messe Basel, Switzerland. Originally scheduled for June, Art Basel in Basel canceled last year’s edition and postponed this year’s fair to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Art+_News KAIST’s ‘AI Nüshu’ Project Honored at Prix Ars Electronica 2025
On October 10, a research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was awarded the Honorary Mention in the Digital Humanity category at the Prix Ars Electronica 2025, the world’s most prestigious media art festival, for their project AI Nüshu (女书), which reinterprets Nüshu (the world’s only women’s script) through artificial intelligence.
2025.10.21
Art+_News BTS’s RM Becomes the First K-pop Star to Collaborate with the SFMOMA
Global K-pop group BTS’s RM will showcase his personal art collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) from October 2026 to February 2027. This marks the first collaboration between SFMOMA and a K-pop artist.
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