Seoul's art scene in 2026 promises a crowded calendar featuring Korean masters and internationally active contemporary artists. New institutions and returning biennales will anchor the year, while exhibitions explore queer art through the city's histories and spotlight overlooked female trailblazers.
The year 2026 ushers in a packed art schedule across Seoul, with major museums dedicating solo exhibitions to established Korean artists and those with strong international profiles. In September, coinciding with Frieze Seoul, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Seoul will host a comprehensive survey of Do Ho Suh's practice, featuring delicately constructed installations that replicate architectural spaces from his personal history using translucent fabric and paper. At the Leeum Museum of Art, Koo Jeong-a's exhibition will extend into the lobby and unexpected corners, working with intangible media like scents and magnetic fields to disrupt viewers' sensory perceptions.
In March, the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, stages the first blockbuster retrospective of nonagenarian sculptor Kim Yun-shin, showcasing her chainsaw-carved wooden assemblages reminiscent of sprouting plants, alongside early prints and paintings from her 70-year career. The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) marks the 110th anniversary of Yoo Young-kuk's birth with its largest retrospective in May, delving into his pioneering abstraction of Korean landscapes through dots, lines, planes, and color, including previously unseen pieces.
International figures include a large-scale retrospective of British artist Damien Hirst at MMCA in March—the first in Asia—confronting themes of death and desire through preserved animals and display cases. In February, Leeum presents Tino Sehgal's "constructed situations" with a site-specific piece reimagining its collection. Jonas Wood's September show at the Amorepacific Museum of Art gathers over 80 works transforming everyday interiors with bold patterns and saturated colors.
Art Sonje Center opens the year with "Spectrosynthesis Seoul" in March, featuring over 70 artists to examine contemporary queer art via Seoul's subcultures and undocumented histories amid rapid modernization. A May group exhibition at Leeum highlights first-generation women artists like Judy Chicago and Tsuruko Yamazaki through their immersive environments. Arario Gallery Seoul surveys Park Young-sook's 1960s photographic practice in February, challenging patriarchal structures. Rhee Seund-ja, Korea's only female first-generation abstractionist, gains spotlight at White Cube and Gallery Hyundai, following her 2024 Venice collateral event. In September, Gallery Hyundai features Christine Sun Kim's explorations of sound as a Deaf artist through sign language and infographics.
New additions include Centre Pompidou Hanwha Seoul opening in May at 63 Square in Yeouido, after a delay, and the Seo-Seoul Museum of Art in the first half, focused on performance and media. Biennales return with the 61st Venice on May 9 under "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh; Korea's pavilion on "Fortress and Nest" by Binna Choi with artists Choi Go-en and Ro Hye-ree. In September, Gwangju Biennale under Ho Tzu Nyen explores artistic transformation and democratic legacy; Busan Biennale led by Amal Khalaf and Evelyn Simons on "Dissident Chorus."
