Seoul · South Korea
Five Essential Exhibitions During Seoul Art Week
From Martin Parr's photographic archives to Do Ho Suh's textile architectures, a guide to the capital's defining cultural moments.
The Capital's Cultural Calendar Swells
Seoul Art Week arrives with a dense programme that bridges documentary photography, spatial installation, sensory sculpture, cinematic discourse, and mid-century abstraction. Rather than functioning as a mere market event, this year's edition positions itself as a critical examination of how contemporary practices engage with memory, identity, and regional histories.
Martin Parr: A Comprehensive Survey
At the Photography Seoul Museum of Art, visitors encounter the most substantial collection of Martin Parr's photographs assembled since the photographer's recent passing. The presentation spans over five hundred prints alongside every published photobook he produced. Fourteen distinct bodies of work are featured, ranging from critiques of globalised tourism to sharp observations of British aristocracy. Notably, the exhibition highlights his earlier engagements with the Korean peninsula. According to press notes, curator Hyunjung Son revealed that Parr remained fascinated by South Korea's transformation and had intended to document contemporary Seoul before his final days.
Do Ho Suh: Architecture and Memory
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art presents what organisers describe as the largest institutional presentation of Do Ho Suh's career to date. Moving beyond his internationally recognised textile replicas, this iteration dedicates significant floor space to approximately two hundred drawings, some originating from his childhood education. The display introduces several Korean premieres, including a paper rubbing of his original residence and a twenty-one-and-a-half-metre run of semi-transparent woven corridors. Curator Seol Wonji deliberately avoids the term retrospective, framing the selection instead as a provisional account of an artist still in his sixties. Meanwhile, Lehmann Maupin will dedicate its Frieze Seoul booth entirely to his architectural models and drawings.
Koo Jeong A: Olfactory Cosmologies
Across town, the Leeum Museum of Art hosts a thirty-year overview of Koo Jeong A's multidisciplinary research. The exhibition extends beyond traditional gallery boundaries, dispersing objects through lobbies and concealed alcoves. Central to the presentation is the artist's conceptual framework of OUSSS, a neologism describing fundamental forces, matter, and cosmic energy. Building upon recent European presentations, the show culminates in a newly commissioned sculptural installation titled [MOBIOUSSS]. Resembling a landed vessel, the glowing form simultaneously references mathematical infinity and recreational skateboarding infrastructure.
Cinematic Dialogues and Regional Perspectives
In a strategic collaboration between the Busan Biennale and Frieze Film Seoul, the Songeun venue screens eight multimedia projects exploring the intersection of subcultural movements and political dissent. Co-directed by Amal Khalaf and Evelyn Simons, the programme segments screenings into thematic blocks. Initial selections examine physical expression through choreography, while subsequent slots investigate dystopian narratives and state-sponsored performance traditions. Participating creators hail from across Southeast Asia and its global diaspora, offering nuanced critiques of youth activism and mediated selfhood.
Yoo Youngkuk: Post-War Abstraction
The Seoul Museum of Art inaugurates its Korean Modern Masters initiative with a definitive overview of Yoo Youngkuk's oeuvre. Curated within a space conceived by architect Teo Yang, the presentation arranges roughly one hundred and seventy paintings and archival documents into a non-linear narrative. Rather than adhering to strict chronology, the layout begins with a pivotal sixteen-by-twelve-foot canvas created during the artist's first solo exhibition at age forty-eight. The arrangement mirrors South Korea's own socio-economic evolution, inviting viewers to trace decades of gestural experimentation. Admission remains complimentary, though the accompanying retail outlet stocks limited-edition publications derived from his abstract compositions.
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