Featured Events in South Korea in January, 2025 (May Updated)

With 2 million attendees each year, the Seoul Lantern Festival is one of the city's well-known cultural celebrations. Held along Cheonggyecheon in central Seoul in November, the event includes hundreds of exquisite life-size lanterns, made by artists and local residents from around the world. During the two-week festival, various lantern-related activities will be held, including a lantern-making competition.

In the exhibition, you can see 50 representative works of Frida Kahlo, which sublimate the will and hope for life in physical and mental pain and despair into replicas (replicas are special copies of the originals for educational and experiential purposes) Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is a representative female painter in Mexico, famous for her original and colorful painting style, which combines realism, surrealism, symbolism and traditional Mexican culture.

MomsHolic Baby & Education Fair 2025, the most anticipated event of the year, is all set to take place at the impressive COEX Convention Center in Seoul. This fair is a must-visit for anyone interested in the latest trends and innovations in the world of parenting and child education. From January 9th to 12th, the COEX Convention Center will be abuzz with activity, as exhibitors from all over the world showcase their products and services tailored to meet the needs of modern parents and their little ones. The MomsHolic Baby & Education Fair isn't just any ordinary event; it's a golden opportunity to gain invaluable insights from industry experts, attend informative workshops, and connect with other like-minded individuals. Whether you're an expectant parent looking for advice or an educator seeking new teaching methods, this fair will certainly have something that piques your interest. Mark the calendar, and don't miss out on the chance to be a part of this incredible gathering in the heart of Seoul.

Musical "Sunny Ten" ranked first in sales of Daehakno musicals! Touching moments, shouts of the past! "That feeling of memories of the 90s and 2000s!" Original! Summon the shining youthful light of the past! Jukebox musical "Sunny Ten"! 公演时间： 工作日：19:30 Saturday & public holidays: 14:00 16:30 周日: 14:00 (Closed on Tuesdays)

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's MultiArt 2024 "Space Elevator" is a project that explores another reality universe and the feelings associated with it. The project will be held every month from May this year to February next year. What is the "reason" and "methodology" that humans should leave the self-satisfied earth and move towards a new reality-the universe? MultiArt 2024 may be unfamiliar to us, but surprisingly, we focus on the interesting concept of "space elevator" that has been discussed for a long time in engineering.

Josh Sperling’s solo exhibition “Miracles” will present a diverse range of works, including 68 new works, which will bring a shocking visual feast to the audience with its unique form and bold colors. This exhibition is curated according to the development of Sperling’s interest and research in form and color, allowing the audience to appreciate his works step by step. From the Raw series, which consists of uncolored raw canvas and various circular patterns, to the Spiral, which shows subtle color gradients and texture combinations. outline-style: initial; max-width: 100%;"spiral) and "composite" (composites) series,the exhibition fully demonstrates the artist’s ongoing experimentation and exploration of form, color, texture, and pattern. In the circular exhibition hall on the second floor, Sibo Lin created a "quiggle" mural especially for this exhibition, which was paired with a graffiti bench of the same design, forming a unique site-specific work. Through this space, the artist provides viewers with an opportunity to contemplate in a public environment, while encouraging them to feel and communicate with the work in a relaxed and comfortable manner.

The interna tionally known Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset have continually redefined exhibition making and the ways in which art can be experienced. Presenting over sixty works with in five immersive installations—a full-scale family house, a public pool, a restaurant with an adjacent kitchen, and an artist's studio—this exhibition marks the their most extensive presentation in Asia to date. Within Spaces viewers will experience new installations of unprecedented scale and form. In Exhibition Room 1, visitors can enter a 140 square meter single family house designed by the Elmgreen & Dragset, explore its various rooms dotted with sculptural works and furniture pieces, and uncover clues about the lives of its fictional inhabitants. In Exhibition Room 2, the duo will install a to-scale public pool emptied of water. This melancholic image—a recurring motif in their oeuvre—suggests the decline of civic gathering spaces and the subsequent loss of community. Finally, visitors will encounter a restaurant named The Cloud. Seemingly caught between its opening hours, the space will be empty except for a lifelike figure of a young woman in the middle of a FaceTime conversation. Other installations will include an industrial kitchen that is reminiscent of a laboratory and an artist ’s studio. Through this expansive survey of Elmgreen & Dragset’s spatial practice, the Amorepacific Museum of Art seeks to provide its visitors with the unique opportunity to uncover unexpected interpretations of everyday realities. Featuring a combination of existing and new works by Elmgreen & Dragset, these architectural interventions will encourage visitors to hunt for narrative threads embedded within the exhibition and become protagonists of the story along the way.

Connected Bodies: Asian Women Artists (hereinafter referred to as Connected Bodies) aims to re-examine the contemporary significance of Asian women's art since the 1960s from the perspective of "bodily nature". This exhibition is part of the National Gallery of Modern Art's Asian Art Project, which crosses borders to conduct comparative research and display contemporary Asian art. The body is a place where various ideologies and situations meet, and where differences and diversity emerge. In order to think about this theme together, the exhibition brings together about 130 works by female artists from 11 countries in Asia.

The largest exhibition in Asia focusing on the spatial work of artist duo Elmgreen and Dragset. A special experience of discovering and completing hidden stories in life-sized installations such as swimming pools, houses and restaurants.

The exhibition Sutra and Box: Vessels of Enlightenment highlights two outstanding masterpieces from the Goryeo Dynasty: a handwritten Buddhist manuscript and an intricately crafted sutra box. The seven volumes of the Lotus Sutra, written and illustrated entirely in gold, are presented in this exhibition. They reflect the ardent aspirations of the people of the time and offer visitors an opportunity to appreciate these priceless works. According to the votive inscription in the sutra, it was dedicated with utmost devotion in the first year of the reign of King Chungmok (1345) of the Goryeo Dynasty by a noblewoman of the highest rank. By means of the merit derived from this work, she hoped to ensure the royal family’s well-being and enlightenment. Also on display is the Sutra Box, an illustrative work of Goryeo mother-of-pearl inlay of which only about twenty examples are known to exist. This exquisite box is decorated with countless finely cut mother-of-pearl fragments that are intricately arranged to form various floral patterns. Fine metal wires were used to prevent the inlay from falling out and to represent the stems between the flowers, demonstrating the blend of artistry and functionality that is the quintessence of Goryeo artisanry. This exhibition provides a meaningful opportunity to deeply understand the value and significance of these masterpieces created through a grand union of faith and art.

"Poetry written on fabric, embracing special memories in everyday life" The textile design brand "minä perhonen", which weaves special memories in everyday life into fairytale-like fabrics, will hold the exhibition "Minä Perhonen Design Journey: Cycle of Memory" for the first time in Korea. This exhibition will show the process of remembering bits and pieces of daily life, such as clouds over fields, swelling buds, and sounds of the coast, incorporating them into designs and making them into fabrics. The founder Akira Minagawa's philosophy of cherishing people and memories is also reflected in his works. I hope you will have a precious opportunity to discover the charm of textile design and a feast of beautiful textiles during your design journey with Minä Perhonen.

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec was an artist from a French aristocratic family, known for his unique, charming and provocative handwriting lithographs of Parisian nightlife during the Belle Époque. As a painter, printmaker and illustrator, he did not belong to a specific school, but absorbed the diversity of the Art Nouveau in Montmartre, the avant-garde center of the time, and pioneered original shapes. Modern graphic posters, he is considered one of the greatest artists in the history of world art. This exhibition seeks to break away from the previous tendency to emphasize Lautrec's psychological defects and unfortunate life, and examine his art from a new perspective. I want to emphasize his freedom to interact with people despite his physical disability, his bohemian experimental spirit that did not belong to any school and freely accepted the Art Nouveau, and especially his humanistic spirit of observing the beauty behind charm and vulgarity. This exhibition explores the extraordinary nature of the art created by Toulouse-Lautrec, combining the vitality of the fin de siècle with humanism, exhibiting his monumental and fascinating works created in Montmartre, as well as posters that led the golden age of contemporary French Art Nouveau. Together with Lautrec, 159 masterpieces of prints by 13 artists, including Alphonse Mucha, are exhibited. The first part, "Bohemia," explores Lautrec's bohemian experimental spirit, who freely embraced various artistic trends and did not belong to any school of painting. The second part, "Humanists," examines Lautrec's human-centered paintings, which depict the lower classes of Montmartre with extraordinary humanity and emphasize his humanistic aspects. The third part, "Stars of Montmartre," consists of works from the second half of his creative career, highlighting his artistic legacy that continues to this day. The final chapter, "French Art Nouveau Posters," showcases the works of 13 artists who were contemporaries of Lautrec and dominated the golden age of French Art Nouveau poster art. It will be an interesting opportunity to compare their works, which have in common with Lautrec's in that they follow the lithographic medium and Art Nouveau trends, but also stand out from Lautrec's art with their own aesthetic consciousness.

Steidl, a living legend in art books The world's best museums and luxury brands, the go-to place for books by leading contemporary artists, Steidl began as a small printing house in 1968 and is now considered a legend in art books as a publishing company that elevates paper books to the level of art.

People, living things will die. Death covers the faces of those who survived the eternal years. So I always feel strange about death. Death is the beginning of a journey to an unknown place. Facing death, the living are heartbroken, That journey cannot be taken together. You can only provide a companion for those who are leaving. The only friend on that road with no solution is. Just like the midwife accepted me and my parents guided me when I was born The moment this life ends and the underworld begins to breathe, the existence that accepts me and guides me, has prepared an exhibition introducing "puppets". The ancestors used the word "passing away" to describe it. This means that the place we go after death is ultimately where we came from. With various puppets on the journey of our souls returning home and the traditional worldview of Koreans now transformed into a beautiful cultural heritage display material I hope it will be a time to think about life and death

The theme of the 2024 festival of Seokchon Lake Luminarie is "Dream, Universe & Love". "The seasonal festival Luminarie, which represents the autumn and winter of Songpa, has set up a variety of landscape lighting, light sculptures, and photo areas in Seokchon Lake, a unique tourist resource, to unfold a feast of light." "Luminarie" is a festival that uses lighting to make or decorate buildings, also called light art or light sculpture. Starting from the main gate that welcomes tourists at the entrance of Seokchon Lake East Lake, large and small Luminari will set up gates, Luminari will set up tunnels, bridge gates, dreamy and mysterious landscape lighting and photo areas.

The Korean Artist Award is a prize system and support program jointly organized by the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MMCA) and the SBS Foundation. Since its establishment in 2012, the award has selected four artists each year, provided support and exhibition opportunities for their new artistic creations, and continued to help them carry out international activities to showcase the potential of Korean contemporary art. Unlike previous exhibitions that mainly featured new works, starting in 2023, new works and artists' previous works will be organized together to broadly illuminate the artists' working worlds.

As you walk around the Seoul Museum of Craft, you will come across a variety of craft works. Just as each form was created to suit its use, the colors were not created by chance. The colors of each work reflect the artist’s thoughts and feelings. Artists devote themselves to research to find the most unique colors and repeat experiments to apply the desired colors to their works. No color is simple and can never be easily expressed. This exhibition is a record of the process in which craftsmen create their own colors, and a story about the time and dedication they put into it. The archive materials, including research notes on colors, poems, materials, and tools, are like looking at a palette filled with the unique colors that the artists wanted to express through their works. The three craftsmen in different fields, Noh Kyung-jo in ceramics, Lee Byeong-chan in dyeing, and Kim Heon-cheol in glass, all obtain colors from nature. Baking colors from the earth, dyeing colors from plants, and making colors shine more colorfully with light transmitted through glass. Creating colors is another way that craftsmen relate to nature. The colors they create enrich our daily lives and stimulate our senses. And these colors will meet you and create another relationship. I hope you will rediscover the colorful colors you witnessed in this exhibition and treasure them in your hearts. ※ ​​The Craft Archives exhibition is only open on weekdays (Tuesday to Friday). Please take note when viewing.

The first Baroque art exhibition in Korea and the largest in Asia, featuring Caravaggio, the founder of Baroque art, and other great masters who led the era.

Maria Svarbova, a photographer from Slovakia, has been recognized internationally for her work and popularity, starting with winning the International Photography Award in 2016, being selected as one of Forbes' 30 Most Influential People Under 30, and ranking first on the Hasselblad Masters List in the Art category in 2018. Reception Photographer. "Maria Svarbova: Yesterday's Future" is an exhibition that showcases 174 different works by Maria Svarbova, stimulating a sense of futurism and retro. The exhibition consists of 5 parts in total and is held at Ground Seoul, located in the Seoul Culture Center. An immersive exhibition is presented in a unique large space. Through a variety of media and exhibition presentation methods, you can feel the artist's unique trend sensibility, including the artist's representative works, the swimming pool series and the wall series, as well as photography, video and installation works. Various photo-taking areas with a sense of movie sets are set up in the exhibition hall, giving visitors the opportunity to participate and become the subject of the work. In addition, various educational programs and related events will be held to help you understand the exhibition more easily and enjoy it more deeply.