Korean Job Discussion Forums

[blues2]

i will be visiting seoul from china from dec 27 to feb 5. i will be teaching english at a winter camp. would like to have a knowledgeable korean native with good english skills take me on a tour of modern art galleries in seoul. i 'm an arts producer from seattle wa usa. I also do digital photography.my email is

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qingdao china

[emkeyen]

I'm not who you are looking for as I am only here to Seoul as an exchange art student and do not speak Korean but I thought I might share my experiences here anyway.

There is some good stuff but its hard to find because the system here is very messy and its hard to get an overview. I think Ssamzie Space and Insa Art Center are considered the big gallery spaces. At least those are the ones I've had mentioned by numerous people. (As I've got it explained, there have been more big ones with corporate owner/sponsorship but they have been closed down when they no longer generated massive tax cuts.) Hyundai has a gallery with a predictable corporate collection, not necessarily meaning its bad in any way, though the bigger galleries following on the same street (Sun etc.) usually have more interresting stuff. If you want traditional paintings, go for Insadong. If you want youngish in somewhat international stylee; see alternative spaces (notably Loop in Hongdae), PKM, Brain Factory... and ask there if there is something interresting on show anywhere. I've seen good things in random galleries but don't remember any more names right now at five-thirty in the morning after a night of work...

Then there are all the museums that might have something depending on your interrest. Ask at the tourist information. They should know about the museums. The newly built, Samsung owned, Leeum is worth a visit just for the absurdity of the place. You need to book tickets in advance though. The Matthew Barney currently on display is kinda same-same if you've familiar with Cremaster already but still worth a visit.

Mostly, the scene here is pretty repetative and predictable and personally I'm quite dissapointed. For modern stuff you can probably find some things you like. Modern painting and sculpture is pretty big. Occasionally you'll find some photo stuff that sticks out from the otherwise common nature shots and cityscapes. Sometimes there are people who make interresting stuff developed from korean traditional art also. For contemporary art, the scene is... limited. As far as I know, there is no experimental scene going on, or at least I haven't found out about it. The korean soul is a mainstream one.

Check out the Seoul Gallery Guide for information on what is going on. You can find it at any gallery or museum. Only in Korean though. Announcements, also only in korean, can be found at www.neolook.co.kr. No overviews availible in english or other internationally common languages. I managed to find a one year old japanese mag in english with a Seoul special that got me started. Dont remember the name of it though. Sorry.

Hope this gets you somewhere.