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.’  

On October 1st, the ACC announced the selected recipient of the ‘2026 ACC Future Prize’ following the final deliberation of the jury committee. This prize aims to identify a representative of Korea’s next-generation contemporary art. The selection process involved receiving recommendations for ten artists from domestic and international experts, narrowing down to five finalists in the first stage, and then evaluating their works to determine the final recipient.

Established by the ACC, the ‘ACC Future Prize’ is a strategic support initiative designed to nurture innovative and interdisciplinary artistic practices that envisage future societal values and potential. The program emphasizes the exploration of social transformations, such as those related to human, technological, and environmental changes, through the medium of art. It highlights the integration of media, technology, and artistic expression to facilitate experimental creation and production.
 
Launched in 2023, the prize is awarded biennially and functions both as a support platform and as an exhibition program to showcase leading-edge artistic endeavors. 

The inaugural recipient in 2023 was artist Ayoung Kim, whose exhibition titled 《Delivery Dancer’s Arc: Inverse》 was held from August 2024 to February 2025 at the ACC Creation Space 1. Kim’s works, employing game engine-based computer graphics and generative AI, received international acclaim and contributed to her participation in prominent exhibitions and Prizes globally.

The 2026 recipient, YoungEun Kim (b. 1980, Seoul), is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in sound, video, and installation art. She studied sculpture and media art at Hongik University and Korea National University of Arts, completed a sonology program at Royal Conservatory of The Hague and is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her ongoing research focuses on reinterpretations of listening and sound’s historical significance through experimental frameworks.
 
Kim’s artistic practice critically examines complex social and historical narratives—including modernization, militarism, and migration—through sound and auditory archives, revealing suppressed histories.
 
Her work has been exhibited at major institutions domestically and internationally, earning prestigious accolades such as the Prix Ars Electronica and the SONGEUN Art Award. She was also selected as a supported artist for ‘Korea Art Prize 2025,’ jointly presented by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and SBS Culture Foundation.

The ACC will support the production of Kim’s new works, enabling her to organize a major solo exhibition from August 2026 to January 2027 at the 1,560㎡ ACC Creation Space 1. Additionally, the center will provide comprehensive supporting infrastructure—including production and media studios, digital media infrastructure, and a dedicated production team—to facilitate her creative endeavors.

The judging committee emphasized that “The ACC Future Prize functions as more than just an artist support program; it serves as a creative platform that bridges art, technology, humanity, and society,” and they assessed the projects based on their alignment with the Prize’s core philosophy.  

The panel highlighted Kim’s innovative approach: “She reconstructs speeches and writings produced in diaspora, migration, and border contexts through recitation and reading, transforming listening into a reflective act. Her project poses essential questions: ‘What have we failed to hear? And how should we ethically confront that which remains unheard?’ This initiative reinterprets colonization, history, and memory through sound art and aims to foster new meditative practices of listening in contemporary art.”

References

• 국립아시아문화전당 보도자료 (National Asian Culture Center Press Release)