IKT Curators Breakfast in Seoul
PARKSEOBO MUSEUM SEOUL
2 September 2026 | 08:30–09:30
PARKSEOBO MUSEUM SEOUL
9-54, Yeonhuiro 24gil
Seodaemungu, Seoul, Korea
On the occasion of Frieze Seoul and the opening week of the Gwangju Biennale, IKT, the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, warmly invites fellow IKT members, curators and arts professionals to an informal breakfast gathering at the newly opened PARKSEOBO MUSEUM SEOUL, hosted in collaboration with the PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION.
Organised by IKT member Valentina Buzzi and IKT Vice President Daniela Arriado, the morning offers an opportunity to meet and connect with colleagues from Korea and and the wider international curatorial community over coffee and croissants, while discovering the new museum and its inaugural programme.
As part of IKT’s ongoing satellite initiatives, the gathering aims to create an informal space for exchange, new connections and conversation between IKT members and the regional curatorial community during one of the most vibrant weeks in Korea’s contemporary art calendar.
IKT members, curators and arts professionals are warmly welcome.
RSVP by 31 August to ikt.curatorial@gmail.com
ABOUT PARKSEOBO MUSEUM
PARKSEOBO MUSEUM was founded upon the art of Park Seo-Bo and the spirit he left behind. Through the research and presentation of his work, the museum seeks to reinterpret its significance within the context of the present day.
Rather than relying on authority or convention, Park Seo-Bo believed in recognising possibility and talent. Throughout his life, he discovered and supported emerging artists, helping them find opportunities to engage with the wider world.
Inspired by this legacy, PARKSEOBO MUSEUM aims to create an environment where artists can develop their creative potential freely and connect with the international art community. In doing so, the museum seeks to ensure that Park Seo-Bo’s artistic legacy remains a living presence today, while fostering an ongoing dialogue with contemporary art.
The museum spans two basement levels and three floors above ground, and wasdesigned by architect Choi Moongyu (Professor, Department of Architectural Engineering, Yonsei University). Completed after approximately three years of construction, the small gardens on each floor harmonize with the exhibition spaces, offering distinct spatial experiences on every level. In particular, the ‘CUBE’ on the third floor is an 8-meter-highsquare space characterized by natural light entering through the translucent glass.
ABOUT PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION
PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION is a non-profit foundation established to carry forward and promote the artistic spirit of painter Park Seo-Bo. Founded in 2019 with funding from Park Seo-Bo as GIZI FOUNDATION, it was renamed PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION in 2023.
The foundation focuses on preserving and managing Park Seo-Bo’s works and building an archive. It also produces and distributes a range of content, including exhibitions, videos and publications. Alongside this, it runs cultural and artistic programmes for the local community and supports young artists and researchers, contributing to the continued development and international reach of Korean contemporary art.
The foundation runs a short-term residency, the Jeju PARK SEO-BO LODGE, located in Jeojiri, Jeju. Park Seo-Bo, who loved Jeju’s natural landscape, often stayed there while developing ideas for his work. The space is now offered to researchers, providing an environment where they can focus on research and reflection.
To broaden the academic foundation for research on Park Seo-Bo’s body of work and Dansaekhwa, the foundation also runs an annual thesis support programme for graduate students in Korea and abroad, helping to cultivate the next generation of art researchers and curators.
Looking ahead, PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION aims to develop as a cultural and artistic platform connecting research and documentation with creation and exchange, carrying Park Seo-Bo’s artistic spirit forward for present and future generations.
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
PARKSEOBO MUSEUM’s inaugural exhibition, Park Seo-Bo & Huong Dodinh: Emptiness Fullness, brings together the work of Park Seo-Bo (1931–2023), a leading figure in Korean contemporary art, and Huong Dodinh (1945–), an artist born in Vietnam who has been based in France throughout her career.
Although shaped by different cultures, materials and artistic practices, both artists have pursued a shared journey of emptying the picture plane through repetition and accumulation.
Park Seo-Bo explored a new order of painting by repeatedly drawing lines across surfaces layered with Korean hanjipaper, treating repetition as a way of emptying the self. Huong Dodinh builds up dozens of layers of mineral pigment, creating a depth from which light appears to emerge from within the surface itself. One repeats lines, while the other builds layers of colour, yet both move towards removing the unnecessary rather than adding more. Through this process, the emptied surface acquires an unexpected density and quiet fullness.
The exhibition unfolds across three floors: SPACE Ø (B2), SPACE 2 (G2), and SPACE 3 (G3). SPACE Ø, where the exhibition begins, brings together works by Park Seo-Bo and Huong Dodinh from the 1990s in a harmonious dialogue. SPACE 2 traces the development of Park Seo-Bo’s Ecriture series, from his Black and White Hanji Ecriture to his Color Hanji Ecriture. SPACE 3 concludes the exhibition with white-toned works by both artists, revealing a subtle and quiet luminosity.
The exhibition does not confine Park Seo-Bo to his art-historical position as a representative figure of Korean Dansaekhwa. Presented alongside the work of Huong Dodinh, who has spent her life developing her own artistic practice in Paris, Park Seo-Bo’s work is reconsidered as an artistic practice that transcends culture and region in its pursuit of the essence of painting.
Rather than emphasising their differences, the works of the two artists, shaped by distinct lives and cultural backgrounds, reveal a shared approach to painting through repetition and restraint.
Marking the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, PARKSEOBO MUSEUM presents this two-person exhibition with a France-based artist as its inaugural exhibition. In doing so, the museum carries Park Seo-Bo’s artistic legacy and research forward while establishing its vision of creating new dialogues with artists from around the world. The exhibition also reflects the idea that emptiness is not an absence, but a creative process through which fullness can be achieved.