In commemoration of Space Lee Ufan’s 10th anniversary, the Busan Museum of Art presents cultural programs ranging from a tea gathering at the art space to a commemorative concert that translates Lee Ufan’s art into music.
Space Lee Ufan opened on April 10, 2015, becoming the first space in Korea named after the artist. The two other spaces that bear his name are the Lee Ufan Museum in Naoshima, Japan, and Lee Ufan Arles in Arles, France. These opened in 2010 and 2022, respectively.
The three-story building in the annex of the city museum offers a comprehensive look at the artist’s practice from the 1960s to the present. Lee himself took part in the architectural concept and design.
The anniversary program includes a guestbook event held until Oct. 19, inviting visitors to share their memories, and an online quiz on social media from Oct. 28 to Nov. 9. Several participants will be selected by draw to receive gifts.
The tea gathering will be held in November and requires a reservation. The commemorative concert will be held in December. The museum will announce details for the upcoming programs via its official website.
The Korean-born artist is known for leading the avant-garde mono-ha movement in Japan in the late 1960s and 1970s, which delved into the relationships between materials and perceptions.
Lee also engaged in a dialogue with and influenced the discourse of Korea’s dansaekhwa art movement, which explored materiality, repetition and spirituality through monochromatic abstraction in the 1970s and 1980s.
Lee, born in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1936, has ties to Busan as he spent his middle school years there. After declining several proposals from the Busan Metropolitan Government to build a museum dedicated to him, Lee eventually accepted the offer and signed an agreement in 2013, donating 20 of his works, according to the museum.
“Space Lee Ufan is an architectural work uniquely designed by the artist himself and an important cultural asset of Busan. We hope citizens will rediscover the space and his works through a variety of programs celebrating its 10th anniversary,” said Seo Jin-seok, director of the Busan Museum of Art, in a statement.
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