Five museum shows to catch during Seoul's art week

Frieze lasts only four days, but the museum shows timed to it run for months, so a short trip is no reason to feel shortchanged. Seoul's institutions save their biggest openings for the first week of September, when collectors and curators are in town. Here are five worth planning a day around after a long afternoon of booth-hopping. The biggest of the lot opened Thursday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in Samcheong-dong: the largest show yet by arguably the most in-

2026-08-27 14:45:23:00

Last dance under one roof: A visitor's guide to Frieze Seoul and Kiaf 2026

Think of it as a farewell party of sorts. Frieze Seoul returns to Coex in Gangnam from Sept. 2 to 5, sharing the building with Kiaf Seoul (Sept. 2-6) as it has since 2022, but this will be the last time the two are under one roof. With the convention center due for a renovation starting next year, Frieze moves across the river to Dongdaemun Design Plaza in 2027 while Kiaf stays put — so enjoy the short escalator ride between the two while it lasts. Frieze brings some 130 galleries from 30 countr

2026-08-27 14:44:22:00

Suh Do-ho comes home, and starts from the beginning

Few Korean artists are in higher demand, at home or abroad, than Suh Do-ho. The world knows him as the artist who rebuilds the houses he has lived in at full scale in translucent polyester. Be it a hanok in Seoul or a studio in New York, each detail, down to the doorknobs and light switches, is rendered in bold colors that pull the eye from across the room. The reading that has built up over shows at the Whitney, the Smithsonian and, last year, Tate Modern is a story about nostalgia and the stub

2026-08-26 17:11:27:00

Lee Chang-dong is back after 8 years, and he's on Netflix

There's Korean cinema as most of the world recognizes it, all stylish violence and class warfare, and there's the kind Lee Chang-dong has made his own over three decades. A published novelist who came to filmmaking in his 40s, Lee has made only six features in three decades, but few directors can match his brand of naturalism, closely observed and rendered with ferocious patience. His camera has a way of settling on the people undone by forces bigger than themselves, whether they be the broken m

2026-08-25 15:11:06:00

Can Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee make 'The Intern' work in Korean?

What says the Chuseok holidays quite like a family with a few days to kill and nowhere they have to be, and what suits that better than a remake of a Hollywood crowd-pleaser everyone already half-remembers liking? Nancy Meyers' 2015 workplace comedy was warm, wholesome, escapist stuff, a feel-good ode to well-meaning people doing nice things. The major draw, of course, was the pairing of Robert De Niro, as a widowed retiree who signs on to be a senior intern at a fashion startup, and Anne Hathaw

2026-08-24 15:04:36:00

Two Hollywood films chase 10m admissions, a feat that's only happened twice before

Korea has a unique way of keeping track of the box office. Whereas most countries measure a film's success in dollars grossed, Koreans count the number of tickets sold, because every theater is required to report daily sales to the state-run Korean Film Council. The ultimate milestone in that system is 10 million tickets. In a country of 51 million, it has long been considered the benchmark of a true megahit, the equivalent of a $1 billion worldwide gross in Hollywood. Only 34 films have crossed

2026-08-21 17:42:23:00

Seoul light festival returns with iconic art, live music

Seoul Light DDP 2026 Fall will run Sept. 3-13 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, organizers said Thursday. The event features media art installations inspired by video art pioneer Nam June Paik, abstract painter Yoo Young-kuk and 18th-century Korean verse. The works will turn the venue's 222-meter curved facade into a projection canvas under the theme "K-Original Light." "The Break Point," created in partnership with the Nam June Paik Art Center, builds on Paik's video synthesizer to generate music-dri

2026-08-21 13:40:18:00

Gwangju Biennale denies censorship in 'Taiwan Pavilion' row

The Gwangju Biennale Foundation on Wednesday denied accusations of censorship over the removal of "Taiwan" from the name of a pavilion at next month's event. Hours later, Taiwan's Ministry of Culture rejected the organizer's explanation as "clearly incorrect." The dispute erupted after the biennale's official poster and program materials listed an exhibition organized by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts as "NTMoFA," the museum's English acronym. Taiwanese officials say organizers had earl

2026-08-20 14:23:15:00

Frieze Seoul, Kiaf ready one last run under the same roof

"We were told by Coex quite late. Earlier this year. ... When we heard that there was going to be construction, there was hope that we could continue. But I had to look at other places, just to protect Frieze." Patrick Lee, director of Frieze Seoul, was answering the question that trailed Wednesday's joint press conference in central Seoul: The fair moves to Dongdaemun Design Plaza in 2027, ending its five-year run alongside Kiaf Seoul at Coex as the convention center undergoes renovations. Firs

2026-08-19 15:00:00:00

Parkseobo Museum is a tribute built to outgrow its namesake

Dansaekhwa, Korea's austere monochrome painting, has traveled far from home. A movement that came together in the 1970s, it was for decades a strictly local affair; today it is a regular presence in Western museums and auction rooms, sought after by collectors worldwide. At the center of that rise is Park Seo-bo (1931-2023). For over half a century, the painter pursued his now-signature "Ecriture" series, in which he carved pencil lines into wet paint until the act of repetition itself — meditat

2026-08-19 14:29:17:00