The Exhibitions Not to Miss During Seoul Art Week
Since Frieze Seoul launched in 2022, the Korean art system has become markedly more international, while Korean art has assumed a far more prominent position globally. Frieze was less the beginning of that transformation than a catalyst landing strategically in a market with a sophisticated local gallery system and the historic fair Kiaf. Sustained government investment in the creative industries extended the logic of K-cinema and K-pop into the visual arts while a long-established tradition of corporate patronage led by the chaebol, the conglomerate dynasties that powered South Korea’s economic rise. Concurrently, a new generation of younger buyers, flush with the disposable income generated by the pandemic pause, entered the market with considerable appetite for art.
What followed was a short-lived bubble. The buying frenzy that helped fuel Frieze Seoul‘s first two editions, alongside an influx of international galleries into the city, had begun to deflate by the fair’s third year. When Frieze held its fourth edition last year, South Korea had just entered a very different economic and political climate. The deeper infrastructure, however, was strong and continues to underpin a Korean art market that is embarking on this year’s Seoul Art Week in a period of recalibration. Political normalization following the June 2025 presidential election, fiscal support, a recovery in domestic consumption and exceptionally strong semiconductor exports have helped stabilize the country’s export-driven economy. The OECD now forecasts 2.6 percent growth in 2026, propelled in particular by the semiconductor cycle.
But if anyone needs further proof that Seoul’s art ecosystem is still very much alive, the city is providing it in abundance. This year, major institutions, long-established galleries and fast-rising younger spaces are mounting an unusually ambitious slate of exhibitions, many devoted to formidable Korean talents. What follows are 13 shows Frieze-goers should absolutely make time for. (Consider, too, a side trip to Gwangju and Busan, as both cities are hosting internationally watched biennials this year.)
