Opening its first thematic exhibition in four years, Leeum Museum of Art poses a fundamental question of what it means to be human at a time when fast-developing technology and the pandemic has exposed widening and persistent social inequality around the world. “We wanted to make the most of our collection for the thematic exhibition and found many of works are related to humans. We found it quite timely to present the exhibition in the pandemic time,” Kwak June-young, a curator a

Arts & Design Oct. 5, 2021

Closing the distance between French luxury brand Hermes and its customers while the pandemic has kept them physically apart has been the goal of Sang Jeon, Hermes’ art director for digital platforms. “I provide some whimsical and humorous contents on social media to people who cannot visit the store during the pandemic and keep them familiar with the brand, narrowing the physical distance between the two, which grew due to the pandemic,” Jeon said in a recent email interview

Arts & Design Oct. 5, 2021

Jeffrey Ludlow -- a creative director at the Point of Reference studio in Madrid -- has been pondering issues related to sustainability, which are easily overlooked in the design industry. He came to think critically about signage as a major contributor to environmental issues. “Signage is everywhere and it comprises a large component of our urban life. It speaks to us about brands and it gives us directions and labels our world,” Ludlow said in an email interview with The Korea

Arts & Design Oct. 2, 2021

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea’s exhibition of 54 modern art masterpieces bequeathed by the Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee has become the most popular exhibition in the museum’s history, with reservations filling fast as soon as time slots open each day. In efforts to consider older visitors, the museum reserves the 10 a.m. slot on Tuesdays for the over-65s. The museum provides a total of eight sessions each day, each allowing 20 visitors for an hour

Arts & Design Oct. 1, 2021

The Arko Art Center, a museum in central Seoul, kicked off “Nothing Makes Itself” to explore interaction and interconnection with nonhuman entities and pose the question of how humans can mingle with technology and nature. The installation work “Impulse” hangs from the ceiling as if it were a chandelier. It ceaselessly transmits clear liquid and bubbles into the transparent cylinders to its 27 branches. Some may see it as an upside down tree whose pure sap flows to its

Arts & Design Sept. 30, 2021

DIA Studio, a creative agency based in New York and Geneva, has evolved over the past decade as a company that helps create brand identities, cooperating with globally influential entities such as Squarespace, Spotify, Adidas, Facebook, Nike, Balenciaga and more. “Our studio created the term ‘kinetic identity’ around 2016. We made a major discovery when creating works for A-Trak and Nike that completely shifted our entire creative process which were inspired by a lot of my in

Arts & Design Sept. 30, 2021

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe last year, the entertainment industry was hit badly with performances and concert tours canceled or postponed one after another. Ray Winkler, CEO and design director of STUFISH Entertainment Architects, took the crisis as an opportunity to rethink where his team and company stood and how they could overcome the challenge. “Change is constant. If you can’t adapt to the change, you are done. Stufish is still here because we have been able

Arts & Design Sept. 28, 2021

The Leeum Museum of Art is set to reopen on Oct. 8 after undergoing an “exceptionally large-scale” renewal, according to the Samsung Foundation of Culture on Monday. The museum will reopen with “Human, 7 Questions” as its first thematic exhibition since Hong Ra-hee, wife of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, stepped down as director in March 2017 after 13 years. Her resignation came as her only son, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, was embroiled in

Arts & Design Sept. 27, 2021

Days after “Squid Game” became the first Korean drama series to rank first on Netflix’s US top 10 TV show list, the global streaming service has unveiled its line-up of Korean programming for the upcoming months, spotlighting 10 drama series and reality shows. Netflix Korea introduced the shows during Tudum, Netflix’s global fan event, on Saturday, which was streamed on Netflix Korea’s YouTube channel. The real-time fan event was moderated by K-pop band Super J

Television Sept. 26, 2021

A real-time discussion, “What Do Museums Connect?: Museums in a Post-Pandemic World,” between art experts across the globe and the general public, will be livestreamed on Thursday by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. The discussion is part of an MMCA symposium that started earlier this month to explore the changing environment for museums and their expanding role in post-pandemic times. The symposium offers 10 talks by art experts consisting of two section

Arts & Design Sept. 26, 2021

British architect Amanda Levete, who founded the architecture studio AL_A in London, has emphasized community values as an architect, bringing public spaces into buildings and architectural spaces. In the pandemic times, she believes, such public spaces have become crucial. “Public spaces are more important now than ever before. We need to make opportunities to connect people because when you do, relationships are formed and ideas exchanged -- and that creates progress,” Levete tol

Arts & Design Sept. 25, 2021

The 2022 spring-summer Seoul Fashion Week will take place virtually starting Oct. 7, with top Korean designers presenting their collections at historic landmarks across Seoul. A total of 37 fashion brands -- 26 established designer brands for the Seoul Collection shows and 11 rookie designer brands for the Generation Next shows -- will be showcasing their new lineup in the upcoming fashion week. Participating brands include LIE and BMUET(TE) whose collections were showcased during the recent

Arts & Design Sept. 22, 2021

Kim Ku-lim, Korea’s first generation avant-garde artist, has been expanding the boundaries of Korean experimental art since the 1960s. His Yin and Yang series that includes 20 of his new works are being shown at the Gana Art Center in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. Kim’s solo exhibition “Yin and Yang” shows a series of artworks that he has worked on since the late 1980s with the theme of “opposition and unison of things.” After realizing that the harmony of di

Arts & Design Sept. 21, 2021

When installation artist Chen Dai-goang traveled to various Asian countries, the buildings there seemed to show how politics, economics and culture of the industrial era had been imprinted on them. Chen collected and took photographs of the architecture and reproduced them as installation works which are on display at the outdoor space at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, the museum’s fourth venue in the country. The i

Arts & Design Sept. 21, 2021

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

Arts & Design Sept. 17, 2021