PAVILION Art Fair Debuts In Seoul With 17 Participants

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The PAVILION art fair, an alternative, dealer-run event, launched its inaugural Seoul edition at the city's Kumsung Cultural Space (KCS). This follows previous iterations in Taipei and Hong Kong. The fair, which opened on Tuesday, coincides with Frieze Seoul and Kiaf, and aims to address specific gaps in the traditional fair system.

PAVILION employs a boothless structure across three buildings, integrating the event into the neighborhood and enhancing accessibility. Exhibitors contribute fees to cover operational costs as part of a community effort. Artworks feature QR codes that provide information on artists, galleries, and prices for unsold pieces. The debut roster includes 17 participants, featuring younger galleries from Seoul and the wider APAC region, as well as nonprofit art spaces like CURRENT PLANS from Hong Kong, YPC in Seoul, and Starch in Singapore.

“I think people have grown tired of hearing that every city is the next huge international art hub, and they just want something authentic. My friends in Seoul feel this way too and wanted to do something more responsive, grounded and fun,” PAVILION co-founder Willem Molesworth told Observer ahead of the opening. The event, which was reportedly“jam-packed,” extended from afternoon into a late-night party. Molesworth stated the following day that the opening was“great and very successful! Galleries made a number of sales and wonderful connections and contacts,” adding,“I think this format is really working and will continue to grow.”

Performances, talks, and social activities are integral to the PAVILION model. Given Seoul's emerging talent and growing demand for cultural experiences among younger audiences, the fair appears well-suited for the city. According to government data from 2025, 77 percent of Koreans in their 20s attended at least one cultural or arts event, compared to 70.8 percent of those in their 30s and 57.7 percent of the overall population. For individuals aged 60 and older, this rate was 31.6 percent.

The MMCA (Korea's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) welcomed a record 3.37 million visitors in 2025, marking a 15 percent year-over-year increase. Visitors in their 20s and 30s constituted 63.2 percent of this total. PAVILION targets younger and newer collectors, with many works priced in the low thousands of dollars or Korean Won, a contrast to the higher price points typically found at events like Frieze.

Featured Galleries and Artists

Several Seoul-based exhibitors are participating, including newer spaces such as Ranee and Sangheeut, alongside more established galleries like Foundry. Ranee, founded in 2023 as a home gallery, is showcasing works by younger artists. Korean painter Haeun Oh's hyperrealistic yet fragmented pieces, exploring existence beyond fixed identities, are priced under $6,000.

Wheedong Kim's cinematic frames, sourced from discarded Tokyo photobooks, capture suspended moments with gloomy tones and vintage textures. These works, priced around $1,000 or less, evoke a“ghostly” quality. Jiwon Park's series, inspired by the Egyptian goddess Tefnut, features fluid colors and mythical landscapes. Her tiny paintings in vintage jewelry boxes, which sold in preview, are priced in the low thousands.

Foundry is presenting fantastical fabric creatures by Korean artist Sang A Han, who explores recombination and coexistence through recurring motifs like flowers and pagodas. These works are all priced under $10,000. Starch, a Singaporean artist-run nonprofit, is exhibiting small altars and memorial objects by Moses Tan, which delve into queerness and resistance through allegory. Also on display is Rusydan Norr's delicate embroidery made from dried wheatgrass roots, a piece that sold on the second day.

Shanghai-based Brownie Project is featuring young Korean artist Kim Myungchan's paintings on aluminum plates, created with airbrush to emulate digital images and explore human perception. All four of these paintings sold quickly. Brownie Project, established in late 2019, focuses on“exploring artistic innovation and social impact within our turbulent times.”

Molesworth's own Hong Kong gallery, PHD Group, is presenting a robotic puppet by Japanese artist Sasaoka Yuriko, following her 2024 show at the gallery and ahead of a major commission at the Mori Museum.“We have had a number of visitors say they prefer our format and want to see it expanded into something larger,” Molesworth noted, expressing hope to fulfill this next year. PHD Group's presentation also incorporates Chan Ting's green sculptures, which appear around doorways, evoking ideas of growth, invasion, and transformation.

Another nonprofit, CURRENT PLANS, is displaying Tiger Wong's Pork Knives, ceramic stoneware editions inspired by Hong Kong's cultural heritage and drawing from From Beijing with Love. Each knife is priced at $760. Opposite this, in a screened alcove, is a video by performance artist and costume designer Mi Pak, presented by Sangheeut. Titled Russian King Crab 1kg 33,000KRW ( 2026 ), the video is the final chapter of a trilogy based on an imaginary creature from Pak's ongoing Mi Pak Encyclopedia, which she began in 2019. Sangheeut, founded in 2021, is known for its experimental approach to performance and video art.

We previously reported:

Seoul's art market is recalibrating as Frieze Seoul returns for its fifth edition and KIAF celebrates its 25th, indicating maturity after boom years.

The alternative Pavilion fair makes its Seoul debut, while Frieze Seoul emphasizes overlooked artistic practices with its“Beyond the Canon” approach.

The South Korean domestic art market contracted by 23.7% to 615.1 billion won ($433 million) in 2024 from its 2022 peak, though it remains above pre-pandemic

Source: Observer Arts

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