Visitors to the Kiaf Seoul 2025 art fair are seen at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Sept. 3, 2025.NEWS1
Korea’s two largest annual art fairs, Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul, unveiled the roster of galleries joining their 2026 editions on Tuesday. The combined lists boast roughly 300 exhibitors set to present artwork at the two events running side by side at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, this September.
Frieze Seoul returns for its fifth edition from Sept. 2 to 5, again in partnership with Kiaf. More than 125 galleries from over 30 countries will take part, with nearly 70 percent based in the Asia-Pacific region and more than 50 operating permanent spaces in Seoul.
The main “Galleries” section will bring together over 85 international names, among them Hauser & Wirth, Pace, White Cube, David Zwirner, Gladstone and Lisson, alongside Korean mainstays Kukje Gallery, Gallery Hyundai, Gana Art, Hakgojae Gallery, Arario Gallery and PKM.
The bigger change at Frieze Seoul this year is curatorial. Three independent curators lead new and expanded sections, with Cho Hye-young running “Material Practice,” dedicated to craft and material experimentation; Koh Won-seok’s “Spotlight,” the fair’s first showing of solo presentations by 20th-century artists; and Lee Seol-hui’s “Focus” section, which for the first time reaches beyond Asia to include galleries from Europe and the Americas.
Visitors to the Frieze Seoul 2025 art fair look around artwork at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, in this photo provided by the art fair organizersFRIEZE SEOUL
“From the outset, Frieze Seoul has been rooted in the belief that Seoul is not simply a host city for an international art fair,” said Patrick Lee, the fair’s director, in a press release on Tuesday. “Instead, the city sits at the center of a country defining the future of contemporary art in Asia.”
Kiaf Seoul, the older and larger of the two art fairs, marks its 25th anniversary this year and runs from Sept. 2 to 6. Organized by the Galleries Association of Korea, Kiaf brings together 175 galleries from 18 countries.
Domestic heavyweights, including Gallery Hyundai, Kukje Gallery, Gana Art, Sun Gallery, Johyun and Arario Gallery, will be present, with international participants, including Hong Kong’s Whitestone, Houston’s Art of the World and Berlin’s Kornfeld, also joining the roster. Twenty galleries join for the first time, 15 of them from abroad.
The fair’s Kiaf “Plus” section, begun as a showcase for emerging galleries and now a fixture of the program, expands again this year, and 15 galleries will mount single-artist solo booths. Kiaf has also hired its first external creative director for the 2026 edition: designer Jung Ku-ho, who oversees branding, spatial design and a special exhibition, reworking the fair’s layout around the visitor.
The expanded lineup is meant to sustain Kiaf’s standing as an international platform where leading global and Korean galleries gather to survey the breadth and possibility of contemporary art, according to Lee Sung-hoon, chairman of the Galleries Association of Korea.
Visitors to the Frieze Seoul 2025 art fair look around artwork at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, in this photo provided by the art fair organizersFRIEZE SEOUL
Both Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul sit within Korea Art Week, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s umbrella program that has linked Seoul’s major art events since 2023. A combined Frieze-Kiaf ticket goes on sale next Monday at 11 a.m. on the Kiaf homepage at a 30 percent discount.
Frieze, founded in London in 1991 with the launch of frieze magazine, now runs seven fairs worldwide, in cities including Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Seoul. Kiaf, established in 2002 as the Korea International Art Fair, remains the country’s largest fair by the number of participating galleries.
