SEOUL.- The Galleries Association of Korea announced the exhibitor list for Kiaf SEOUL 2025, featuring 176 galleries from over 20 countries and territories. Returning for its 24th edition from September 3 to 7 at COEX in Seoul, Kiaf reaffirms its position as Korea’s leading art fair, connecting the country’s dynamic contemporary art scene with a global audience. Among the participants are 123 domestic galleries, demonstrating the depth and diversity of Korea’s contemporary art and modern artists. This year, Kiaf will welcome 22 first-time participants, including Art of Nature Contemporary (Hong Kong), The Bridge Gallery (Paris), hide gallery (Tokyo), h-u-e (Busan), 021Gallery (Daegu), Primo Marella Gallery (Milan), LWArt (Tokyo), NUMBER 1 GALLERY (Bangkok), Window Fourteen (Geneva), yoonsungallery (Daegu), Galerie Zink (Seubersdorf), SISTEMA GALLERY (Moscow), and more. Now in its 24th edition, Kiaf SEOUL continues to serve as Korea’s leading international art fair championing the country's vibrant art scene with a growing global audience. Kiaf SEOUL 2025 will span Halls A and B of COEX.
Leading galleries in Korea will return to the main Kiaf GALLERIES section of this year’s fair, including ARTSIDE Gallery (Seoul), BHAK (Seoul), Gallery Hyundai (Seoul), Gana Art (Seoul), Hakgojae Gallery (Seoul), Johyun Gallery (Busan), Kukje Gallery (Seoul), and WOOSONGALLERY (Daegu). The section will also showcase a lineup of leading international galleries, including 333Gallery (Bangkok), Lazy Mike (Riga), Galerie Marguo (Paris), OPERA GALLERY (Paris), Pigment Gallery (Barcelona), SARAHCROWN (New York), Sundaram Tagore Gallery (New York), Tang Contemporary Art (Beijing), Whitestone Gallery (Hong Kong), Yumiko Chiba Associates (Tokyo) and more.
Sung Hoon Lee, President of the Galleries Association of Korea, commented, “This year, Kiaf is focusing on improving the quality of exhibition content and refining the selection of participating galleries, to continue our mission of elevating the strongest selection of both international and Korean art to our global audience.” He emphasized that through its rigorous selection process, Kiaf aims to create a more concentrated and impactful platform to showcase the excellence of contemporary Korean art on the global stage.
Kiaf PLUS
Kiaf PLUS, the curated platform for emerging artists and galleries will return for its fourth iteration, showcasing a dynamic lineup of 20 emerging galleries and artists across the fair’s main exhibition halls. Galleries in Kiaf PLUS include Korean participants such as La Heen (Seoul) and THEO (Seoul), alongside international participants including The Bridge Gallery (Paris) and hide gallery (Tokyo).
Special Exhibition: Reverse Cabinet
As part of Kiaf SEOUL 2025, this year’s special exhibition Reverse Cabinet commemorates the 60th anniversary of Korea–Japan diplomatic relations, featuring works by Korean artists Don Sunpil, Yum Jihye, Jeong Geumhyung, and Oh Kai, alongside works by Japanese artists Kei Takemura and Sen Takahashi. Co-curated by Yoon Juli, Chief Curator at Ilmin Museum of Art in Seoul and Co-Director of the curatorial platform WESS; and Tomoya Iwata, Co-Director of The 5th Floor, an alternative space in Tokyo; the exhibition draws on the curators’ respective expertise to explore the evolving artistic languages of collecting and display – framing the act of collection as a fundamental form of choice and expression in contemporary art.
Featuring six emerging contemporary artists from the two countries, Reverse Cabinet examines how a new generation of artists interprets and expresses their respective cultural contexts while revealing shared and divergent sensibilities shaped by generational experience and regional influence.
The exhibition showcases the collection and reconfiguration of works using industrial materials, digital imagery, internet memes, archival footage, intangible experiences, and data to form a layered, cross- cultural dialogue. In this artistic process, the boundary between compiling a collection and creating art becomes blurred. Reverse Cabinet leverages Kiaf’s distinctive context to explore how “collecting” can go beyond ownership and become an act of artistic creation. Rather than adhering to traditional systems that attribute value to artworks—like museum vitrines or one’s private collection—the exhibition sheds light on “reversed” artistic practices that reinterpret collecting as a generative act, creating new meanings and visual languages.
Reverse Cabinet offers a lens into how Korean and Japanese artists interpret and express their respective cultural contexts, while also illuminating the shared or contrasting sensibilities of the younger generation in both countries. Through these “reversed” collections crafted by the artists, visitors will experience diverse practices and perspectives surrounding contemporary art—and discover how these can themselves become new acts of collecting and displaying.
Kiaf HIGHLIGHTS
Kiaf HIGHLIGHTS will spotlight emerging artists exhibiting at Kiaf. Ahead of Kiaf SEOUL 2025, exhibitors were offered the opportunity to nominate select artists from their presentations for consideration in the Kiaf HIGHLIGHTS Award. After a careful review of the applications, a shortlist of ten nominees will be selected by the Kiaf committee. In the lead-up to the fair week, Kiaf will introduce these finalists on its social media and publish interviews and features across its website and catalog. A jury of professors, curators, and institutional experts will select three winners from Kiaf HIGHLIGHTS, who will each be awarded KRW 10 million at an award ceremony on September 3.
Kiaf x Frieze Seoul x Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) Talks Program Presented in collaboration with Frieze Seoul and the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS), the Talks Program returns with 9 panel discussions at Studio 159 inside COEX. Renowned opinion leaders from the global art industry engage in discourse on the art world and broader issues in contemporary art. Full schedule and panel details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Frieze Seoul will once again run concurrently with Kiaf SEOUL at COEX Halls C and D, presented in partnership with the Galleries Association of Korea.
