Korea’s longest-running sculpture art fair kicked off Wednesday at Coex in southern Seoul. This year, the art fair strengthened its role as a platform connecting galleries and sculptors with the business sector, offering broader opportunities for collaboration.
Now in its 15th year, International Sculpture Festa 2026 was launched in 2011 to promote sculpture, a genre long overshadowed by painting in the art market.
The five-day art fair takes place this year under the theme “Where Art Meets Business,” bringing together more than 2,000 works by some 480 artists.
“We aim to move beyond simple art fair platforms and build more proactive collaborations between artists and companies, creating models where artists benefit, and companies, in turn, can promote their brands through partnerships with artists,” said Kwon Chi-gyu, who heads the Korean Sculptors Association, Wednesday.
“Sculpture is an art form that transforms space and reshapes the memory of a city,” he added.
As part of a collaboration with local governments aiming to promote sculptures in urban spaces, the art fair held a preview event at the Yeouido ferry terminal on the Han River in Seoul on Friday.
Among featured artists at the fair is Bahk Seon-ghi, known for installations that use charcoal and glass beads to create three-dimensional perspectives.
His installation, “An Aggregation — Treat,” created in collaboration with confectionery company Crown Haitai, transforms familiar Korean snacks into sculptural forms.
"Charcoal and confectionery, precisely suspended in midair, continuously reconfigure their structure according to the viewer’s shifting perspective. Materials that stimulate different senses come together in harmony, offering the audience an immersive spatial experience," the artist commented on the work.
The association is pushing for a series of measures to enhance transparency in the sculpture market. Starting in 2027, all works exhibited at the art fair will be assigned unique identification numbers to better manage exhibition records, authenticity verification and digital archiving. The system will be tested this year, according to the association.
“Each artwork will receive a unique ID, allowing us to track its history and issue certificates of authenticity based on a centralized database,” Kwon said.
Other firsts at this year's fair include a special exhibition for emerging sculptors aged 39 and under, and the launch of the young sculptor award, which seeks to nurture the next generation of sculptors.
“In collaboration with leading art planning agencies in Korea, the fair will serve as a platform connecting artists with collectors and helping develop sponsorship networks,” said Kwon.
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