Frieze Seoul opened its fifth edition Wednesday with an invitation-only preview at Coex in the Gangnam district, alongside the 25th edition of the homegrown fair Kiaf Seoul — the last time the two events will share the same convention-center roof. Public visitors are admitted Thursday, and the fairs run through the weekend, Frieze closing Saturday and Kiaf a day later.
Frieze drew 133 galleries from 30 countries and regions this year, while Kiaf brought 175, including 48 from outside Korea, for a combined 308 exhibitors under one roof. Starting in 2027, Frieze will relocate to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza while Kiaf remains at Coex during the convention center's renovation — but the two fairs, which first agreed to run together for five years starting in 2022, have now extended that partnership through 2031, ensuring Seoul's September art week continues even once the fairs are physically apart.
New Sections, Familiar Names
This year's fair introduces two curated sections. Spotlight, led by Line Cultural Foundation director Koh Won-seok, gives solo presentations to 15 twentieth-century artists from Korea and elsewhere who have been overlooked in a Western-centered art history. Material Practice, curated by Cho Hye-young, gathers galleries working in ceramics, textiles, glass, metal, wood and hanji, Korean traditional paper. Frieze also expanded its Focus section for galleries founded within the past 12 years.
Blue-chip exhibitors turned out major names for the preview: Gagosian devoted its entire stand to Damien Hirst, Pace paired a 1989 painting by Yoo Young-kuk with a glass work by James Turrell, and Thaddaeus Ropac showed Georg Baselitz alongside Lee Kang-so. Seoul's own Kukje Gallery featured Ha Chong-hyun and Haegue Yang. Frieze Seoul director Patrick Lee said the programming "is built on the belief that a fair should be more than what happens inside its walls — it should be felt across the city it calls home."
Last year's editions drew roughly 70,000 visitors to Frieze and 82,000 to Kiaf, according to figures reported by the Korea Times. Shinsegae Group is Frieze's first domestic retail headline partner, a deal that runs through 2030, while Hyundai Department Store continues as Kiaf's official sponsor for a fifth consecutive year.
With Thursday's public opening, dealers and collectors will get their first broad read on demand for a fair that has become a fixture of the Asian art-market calendar since its 2022 debut — and, for one more year at least, an event Seoul hosts as a single, shared address.
