The Kansong Art Museum -- a private museum in Seoul that has collected valuable artifacts since the Japanese colonial era -- has put two state-designated treasures up for auction. The Buddhist sculptures are the first items to be sold by the museum in its 82-year history. The trading of state-designated cultural treasures is also a rare occasion in the auction market. Founded in 1938 as the country’s first private museum, the Kansong Art Museum is a point of cultural pride in Korea.

More than 100 artworks by Rene Magritte, reproduced with digital technologies, offer an immersive experience that maximizes interaction with the master’s artworks. The exhibition “Inside Magritte,” which runs until Sept. 13 at the Insa Central Museum in Insadong, central Seoul, provides a multisensory learning experience that uses music, light, virtual reality techniques and video art to bring the artist and his works to life. Directed by The Fake Factory, based in Florence

The last time Jang, a 28-year-old translator in Seoul, had her hair permed was early this year. After the country was hit hard by COVID-19, she had to put off visiting a hair salon for a treatment that would prolong her perm. Searching online, she found an electric hair cap that claimed to provide hair treatment effects. “I have been reluctant to visit a hair salon because it was near a place where a COVID-19 patient had visited according to information provided by Seoul Metropolitan Go

The 13th Gwangju Biennale -- which was postponed to February 2021 -- will be held across Gwangju, including the town of Yangnim, a historic place that is witness to the city’s modern history, for the first time, and will feature feminism, which has emerged as one of the most important themes around the world. The art event will be held from Feb. 26 to May 9 next year with the theme, “Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning,” pushed back from September this year due to the COVID-19 pand

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) is hosting the largest print exhibition in 13 years to explore the print art, which has been relatively unknown to the public as an art genre. “The exhibition is expected to reaffirm the values of Korean prints and encourage more interest on the potential of the marginalized genre,” said Youn Bummo, director of MMCA. The exhibition, “Prints, Printmaking, Graphic Art,” at the Gwacheon venue features aroun

Park Yu-chun, an actor and a member of K-pop group, JYJ, apologized for having lied about the drug charges against him last year in a TV interview aired on Monday. He said he had lost “rational judgement” when he swore to leave the entertainment industry if found guilty. “I really regret that I lied (about using drugs), and I still wonder ‘What if I had told the truth to people and sincerely asked for forgiveness (instead of insisting on innocence),’” Park

The 13th Gwangju Biennale, which was scheduled to kick off in September, has been postponed to February 2021 due to the spread of COVID-19, the Gwangju Biennale Foundation announced Monday. The art biennale was originally scheduled to be held Sept. 4-Nov. 29 at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall and other venues throughout the city of Gwangju. However, the foundation decided to delay the exhibition as COVID-19 infections continue to spread across the globe. “Considering that artists

A moon jar sits in the middle of the exhibition “Empty Fullness: Materiality and Spirituality in Contemporary Korean Art” at Park Ryu Sook Gallery in Seoul. From a distance, it looks like an ordinary piece of porcelain ware. But walking around it, you will find that it looks different from different angles because of the way it was made: The upper and lower parts of the jar were shaped separately and then put together, causing some dents in the firing process. But ultimately, it is

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, opened its first-ever permanent exhibition Thursday. “MMCA Collection Highlights 2020 Plus” showcases 54 of the gallery’s collection pieces -- paintings, video installations and other works that represent Korea’s modern and contemporary eras. Park Mi-hwa, senior curator at the MMCA, walks viewers through the exhibition on the museum’s YouTube channel. English subtitles are in the works and will be added

Over the past five years, Chung Hyun-sook, senior executive producer at the Educational Broadcasting System, has been producing international documentaries in collaboration with other Asian countries. Her ultimate goal as a producer is to make a cultural community for Asian countries. Chung, who has also been chair of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Kids since 2004, has focused on drama and documentaries mainly on kids. But her new fifth documentary, “Family Asia,” which aired Mon

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, has organized an art exhibition at 11 stations in northern Seoul in collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Government. “Painting Study,” which runs until Aug. 31, features 61 paintings by Kook Dong-wan and installation artist Vakki at the stations along the Ui-Sinseol Subway Line. The line connects Ui-dong in Gangbuk-gu with Sinseol-dong in Dongdaemun-gu. Kook and Vakki were selected for the MMCA’s 2020 artist r

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will partly reopen on Wednesday, as new COVID-19 infection cases have sharply decreased here. Those who want to visit the four venues of the museum -- Deoksugung, Seoul, Gwacheon and Cheongju -- and Children’s museum in Gwacheon are required to make online reservations on the MMCA’s website, choosing a date from Tuesday to May 17. All visitors are required to wear a face mask and have their temperature checked before ent

For those who thirst for in-depth knowledge of Korea’s modern and contemporary fine art but did not know where to begin, “Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation and Interaction,” published by Phaidon, a global art book publisher, may be a good point of entry. Published in English, “Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation and interaction,” covers the development of the country’s modern and contemporary art history from 1953 -- the year when the Korea

Wonju Hanji Theme Park in Gangwon Province will build a new experience center centered on Korean papercraft by next year, investing 5.8 billion won ($4.73 million). Wonju Hanji Theme Park -- located in Wonju, Gangwon Province -- is dedicated to introducing the art of hanji. Hanji, which literally means “paper of Korea” is hand-made paper produced by soaking the bark of mulberry trees.  The paper, which has been made in Korea since the Three Kingdoms period, when the Korean P

Although the number of new COVID-19 infections has decreased sharply in South Korea, fears of a resurgence persist. As the coronavirus crisis has gripped the country for more than three months, life as we know it has changed. The prevalence of video meetings and interviews is one of the changes that seem likely to stay even as the pandemic situation subsides. The Busan branch of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement conducted its first-ever online conference on Saturday with 100

When watching a play, you may sometimes feel like the actors are actually “acting” rather than being real people. How about when the actors actually live as a character 24/7, communicating with the audience? Yulhyul Arts Group, a 20-year-old arts group in Seoul, has come up with an extraordinary two-year project that consists of different performances under the theme of “city and desire.” Their goal is to have the plays naturally permeate into real life. Five actors fr

When the coronavirus hit the country earlier this year, art institutions found themselves suddenly having to cater to audiences who were isolating at home and craving cultural experience. The pandemic was a completely unexpected situation, with many galleries not prepared for weeks and even months of forced closure. As museums and galleries scrambled to go online to meet the demands of the new reality, Savina Museum of Contemporary Art in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul, stayed calm, carrying o

The late works of Yun Hyong-keun (1928-2007), the master of monochrome painting, or Dansaekhwa, from the late 1980s to 1990s, have been unveiled to the public at PKM Gallery in Seoul. The exhibition is the first that focuses exclusively on the master’s works from his later years. Titled “Yun Hyong-keun 1989-1999,” the exhibition features 24 paintings from the period. Yun’s works garnered the international spotlight through a retrospective held at Palazzo Fortuny in Ven

Billy Childish, a painter who hails from the UK, opened his first solo exhibition in Seoul at Lehman Maupin in Jongno, central Seoul. The works of Childish remind that of Expressionism painters in the early 20th century, chracterized with strong brush strokes and vivid colors, Titled “Wolves, Sunsets and the Self,” the exhibition runs until June 27, featuring seven new paintings by the artist. His paintings, which look as if they are alive, come from the artist’s unique meth

Royal Tomb of King Sejong will partially open in May to the public, two years after restoration, the Cultural Heritage Administration, in charge of the tomb management, said Friday. The tomb, located in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, was built for the Joseon era’s fourth King Sejong and Queen Soheon. Entrance to the historic site was temporarily shut down since November 2017 for restoration.  Although visitors are allowed to tour the royal tomb, other historic sites near the tomb, incl