Textiles Take Center Stage and Seoul’s Art Scene Defies the Expected

Textile art, often sidelined as mere craft, is stealing the spotlight at Frieze Seoul 2024. This year’s fair sprawls across the city, with over 110 galleries from 30 countries and a surge of institutional visitors, thanks in part to concurrent biennales in Gwangju and Busan. Tina Kim Gallery’s booth celebrates the overlooked brilliance of textile and fiber works, especially by Asian women artists, challenging old hierarchies in the art world. Kukje Gallery highlights the cross-border collaboration behind Kyungah Ham’s embroidered pieces, crafted with North Korean artisans. Meanwhile, Paris’s Galerie Mitterrand brings Niki de Saint Phalle’s exuberant “Nana” sculptures to Korean audiences, while Wooson Gallery spotlights Myungmi Lee’s playful canvases from Daegu. From performance art at Frieze LIVE to historic moon jars at Hakgojae Gallery, the fair’s programming weaves together tradition and innovation. As Seoul’s art fairs mature, the city’s role as a cultural crossroads grows ever more vivid—where boundaries blur and new stories unfold with every booth. #FriezeSeoul2024 #TextileArt #KoreanArt #Culture