The Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism began Thursday under the theme of “Crossroads, Building the Resilient City,” exploring how the pandemic has transformed and impacted living spaces. 　The third edition of the biennale encompasses five conflicting themes -- “Above/Below,” “Heritage/Modern,” “Craft/Digital,” “Natural/Artificial” and “Safe/Risk” -- focusing on how cities can become more resilient. The 2021 event

Korea’s contemporary art master Park Seo-bo is showcasing 16 paintings of his recent Ecriture series inspired by nature at his solo exhibition at Kukje Gallery. Titled “PARK SEO-BO,“ the exhibition which runs through Oct. 31, shows how nature has become the artist’s core value and his belief that art should serve to heal people. The 91-year-old artist is a pioneer of Korea’s contemporary art, leading the dansaekhwa movement since the late 1960s. Translated as &ld

Different hairstyles give different impressions. Some people express their moods through hairstyles and refresh their mind with a bold chop or perm. While fashion is easily thought of as a way to express one’s persona, so do hairstyles as it represents one’s identity, mood, tastes. Korea’s leading hair designer Cha Hong showcased 80 hairstyles she has presented over the past decade at the exhibition “Narratives in Style” at Beacon Studio in Seongsu-dong, Seoul.

Gardens were a source of inspiration to the literati in the late Joseon dynasty, where a culture of paintings and writings on “uiwon” flourished. Uiwon is defined as the garden of one’s mind. Inspired by the culture of uiwon, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and the Cultural Heritage Administration are showcasing “Deoksugung Project 2021: Garden of Imagination” at Deoksugung, one of five royal palaces in central Seoul. The project is

Concept Korea NYFW S/S 2022 will be held online as part of programs scheduled for New York Fashion Week, introducing three Korean fashion brands to help promote their brand names. The three fashion brands -- EENK, Ul:kin and NOHANT -- will showcase their 2022 spring/summer collection through a digital fashion film which will be unveiled on the New York Fashion Week’s official website at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Thursday, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency. The content

Incheon Airport has pinned its hopes on a bid to set up a globally renowned museum at the airport by 2024. If the plan is realized, the airport will allocate two sites for the museum, including Terminal 2, which is currently undergoing an expansion. “We have requested to commission research to gauge feasibility, including budget and possible sites to see which museum would be most suitable for the airport. The research is expected to be completed by early next year,” an Incheon I

The 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale kicked off Wednesday at the Seoul Museum of Art and several private and public locations throughout the city of Seoul after a yearlong delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Artistic director Yung Ma leads the biennale this year with the theme of “One Escape at a Time” inspired by ideas of escapism in the context of the current popular media landscape. Forty-one Korean and international artists and artist collectives are participating. “W

The “Freedom village” is the sole South Korean settlement located in the southern part of the Demilitarized Zone that cuts across the Korean peninsula. Originally named Daeseong-dong, the village has been isolated since the Korean War armistice agreement in 1953. When the residents in the village turn 32, they have to decide whether to remain or leave. The exhibition “MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2021: An installation view of “MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2021: Moon Kyun

Sculptor Hyun Nahm is the youngest artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Atelier Hermes in Seoul, the exhibition space run by the Fondation d’entreprise Hermes. The 31-year-old artist believes sculptural objects can express sceneries as do the stones that maintain their own characters influenced by the surrounding environment. The sculptures Hyun is showcasing at the exhibition “Burrowing at the Bottom of a Rainbow” are produced with a negative casting technique using mater

The government has earmarked 5.8 billion won ($5 million) in next year’s budget for managing and exhibiting artworks donated by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. A total of 3.3 billion won has been allocated toward research personnel, equipment and facilities as well as establishing a database to manage the artworks, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday. Another 2.5 billion won will be used to organize a special exhibition slated to take place at the National

The Demilitarized Zone established after the Korean War (1950-1953) runs across the Korean Peninsula. Although the 2-kilometer-wide strip has existed for decades, the area has been an imaginary place for many, especially those who have not experienced the war. Left untouched for decades, the DMZ has 13 observatories where civilians can get a glimpse of the border line under strict vigilance. Over the past five years, artist Jung Yeon-doo and theater director Surya visited the observatories mo

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has launched a project with art institutes in Asia to promote art globally, such as online virtual reality programs and a Korean art website in English, so audiences can enjoy them from the comfort of their own homes during the pandemic lockdown. A subscription-based online streaming service, “Watch and Chill,” was jointly launched with the M+ West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Tha

AuxeticBreath, an interactive new media installation that visualizes the change in perception about humans’ breathing during the pandemic, was announced as the winner of the “Red Dot” at the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2021.　 Interactive designer Youn Hye-jun observed the interaction with collective breaths and visually rendered the rhythmic patterns of human breath using soft robotics and auxetic structures. Emitting different lights, the oval-shaped silicon objects move a

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is showcasing the first major exhibition of Korean portraits from past to present, exploring the identity and legacy of Korean history and culture. Titled “Likeness and Legacy in Korean Portraiture,” the exhibition kicks off on Friday and runs through Nov. 29, featuring a variety of Korean portraitists from the Joseon era (1392-1910) to works reflecting today’s selfie culture. “What makes Likeness and Legacy unique is that we mov

When the news spread that Banksy’s works would be shown in Seoul at the exhibition “The Art of Banksy - Without Limits,” it became one of the most anticipated shows. The exhibition kicked off Friday at Seouliteum in eastern Seoul after touring 11 countries since 2016. A total of 25,000 tickets were sold in preorders before the opening, reflecting the popularity of the works and curiosity about the mysterious artist. Soon after the show’s opening, visitors began postin

Three museums in Korea have come together to find a way to persevere amid the pandemic through a new online platform aimed at audiences from home and abroad. ARKO Art Center, Art Sonje Center and Nam June Paik Art Center have launched the website “Kind Neighbors,” which will operate as an online common place for three months. Artists, curators and experts from both inside and outside the art world will join the new platform.  “Amid the urgent priorities of the social

Installation artist Yang Hae-gue will unveil her paper collage series titled “Mesmerizing Mesh” on Tuesday at Kukje Gallery in central Seoul, a year after she showed a glimpse of her paper artwork at her solo exhibition held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. The “Mesmerizing Mesh” collage series is created with hanji, Korean mulberry paper, and inspired by “kkasugi,” or sacred paper cutting, which refers to shaman paper objects o

As soon as the Seoul Museum of Craft Art opened in late July near Insa-dong, a popular tourist destination in central Seoul, visitor slots filled up quickly. That was an indication of how long people had waited for a museum dedicated to Korean crafts. The country’s first craft museum occupies the former site of Poongmoon Girls’ High School in Jongno-gu, which relocated to Gangnam-gu in 2017 and became a coed school.  Some of the school buildings have been renovated and turned

The British Council Korea and Korea Foundation announced on Friday the winning project on climate change after reviewing projects proposed by cross-border teams from South Korea and the UK. The winning project, “The Greenverse,” was jointly suggested by the Art Center Nabi in Seoul, Watershed, a digital media center in the UK, and Bang and Lee, a Seoul-based artistic duo that explores various aspects of contemporary life such as effects of technology and networked societies. Twen

Former Culture Minister Park Yang-woo was appointed as the new president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation which will become his second time to lead the organization, according to the foundation. “Park will start his new position as early as this month. The presidency term is three years and allows consecutive terms,” an official from the foundation told The Korea Herald on Friday. The announcement of the new president was made after the committee meeting held Tuesday. Park pre