Welcome Remarks
2024 Korean Art Workshop for Overseas Curators

Monday, September 2, 12:00–14:00 / Korea Press Center

Welcome Luncheon
Amb. KIM Gheewhan
President, The Korea Foundation

Good afternoon,

I welcome all of you to 2024 KF Korean Art Workshop for Overseas Curators. This workshop takes place annually sometimes in Korea, sometimes overseas. Thank you for coming to Korea this year. Thank you for making long journeys from your respective countries. I am Gheewhan Kim, the president of the Korea Foundation.
This year KF is hosting the workshop with the Seoul Museum of Art. I thank General Director Choi Eunju (최은주) for the partnership.

Supporting Korean Arts exhibitions and Korean culture programs at the museums and galleries overseas is one of KF’s important missions.

KF is supporting endowed curatorships at museums and galleries around the world. This workshop is an annual program for curators and partners KF is working closely with.

We are now in the 29th edition of our Workshop for Overseas Curators. Drawing on the rich experience and institutional memory that we have gained through this program, I am very pleased to see the progress that this event has come to play in deepening understanding on Korean arts and increasing networking among art professionals and specialists worldwide.

I am also pleased to see that modern and contemporary Korean art is also garnering international attention. Last year, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art hosted exhibitions for contemporary Korean artists such as Do Ho Suh(서도호), Haegue Yang(양혜규), Park Dae Sung (박대성), Lee Bul (이불). Many others are coming fast and reaching new heights on the international stage.

In the course of the workshop, all of you - 29 prominent curators from leading institutions around the world - will be invited to engage with the Korean art institutions such as the Seoul Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the National Museum of Korea, the Leeum Museum of Art, and the FRIEZE Seoul.

I hope you enjoy the workshop programs, networking and deepening understanding on Korea, including on modern and contemporary Korean arts.

I thank you all for your interest and participation. I wish you a comfortable stay in Korea.

Thank you.