At Korea’s largest art fairs, Kiaf·Frieze Seoul 2025, an open platform for artistic discourse, the “Kiaf x KAMS x Frieze Seoul Talk Program”, will take place from September 4 to 6 at Studio 159 on the 2nd floor of COEX, Seoul.
 
Co-hosted by Kiaf SEOUL, the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS), and Frieze Seoul, the program brings together leading figures from the domestic and international art world to share key issues in contemporary art and foster new dialogues through connections with the Korean art scene.
 
Comprising nine sessions, the talk program covers a wide range of contemporary art topics, including the public role and operational strategies of art foundations, the practice and impact of Asian queer art and socially engaged art, survival strategies for emerging galleries, the international status and vision of Korean art, and the creativity and possibilities of art in an era of technology and algorithmic production.
 
The program also features linked sessions with curators and collectors from the Kiaf special exhibition 《Reverse Cabinet》, as well as artist talks, offering audiences a deeper and more immersive experience of the event.

Key speakers include Jiseon Lee Isbara (President, School of the Art Institute of Chicago), Mami Kataoka (Director, Mori Art Museum), Alfredo Cramerotti (Director, Media Majlis Museum), Adrian Villar Rojas (Artist), Sunjung Kim (Artistic Director, Art Sonje Center), Ayoung Kim (Artist), Jinjoon Lee (Artist & Professor, Graduate School of Culture Technology, KAIST), Hye Jin Jee (Founder, sangheeut), Patrick Flores (Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Research, National Gallery Singapore (NGS)), Vivienne Chow (London Correspondent, Artnet News), and Purat Osathanugrah (Chairman & Founder of Dib Bangkok, Art Collector), who will lead in-depth discussions.
 
All sessions of the talk program are free and open to the public, allowing participation on a first-come, first-served basis without a Kiaf or Frieze ticket. Online live streaming will also be available for pre-registered participants, enabling audiences worldwide to engage in contemporary art discourse regardless of location.

Thursday 4 September
1. Art Foundations and the Ecology of the Art World (11:30 – 12:30)
Moderator: Gabriel Ritter (Director of the UCSB Art, Design & Architecture Museum and Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art & Architecture)
Panellists: Zoe Butt (Founder & Executive Director, in-tangible institute), Grace Oh (Managing Director, Formation Association), Laurencina Farrant (Director, SONGEUN), Patrick Sun (Sunpride Foundation)
 
2. Queer Asian Art and the Technology of Re-membering (14:00 – 15:00)
Moderator: Yongwoo Lee (Curator and Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Panelists: Sin Wai Kin (Artist), Candice Lin (Artist), Sung Hwan Kim (Artist)
 
3. Artist Talk: Artistic Imagination between Reality and Virtual (16:30 – 17:00)
Moderator: Sunjung Kim (Artistic Director, Art Sonje Center)
Panelists: Adrian Villar Rojas (Artist), Ayoung Kim (Artist)
 
Friday 5 September
1. Socially Engaged Art Across Asia (11:30 – 12:30)
Moderator: Sohl C. Lee (Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Stony Brook University, SUNY)
Panelists: Patrick Flores (Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Research, National Gallery Singapore (NGS), Amy Cheng (Senior Curator, Singapore Art Museum), Bo Zheng (Associate professor of media art at City University, Hong Kong)
 
2. Engines of Change: How Seoul’s Emerging Galleries Are Shaping the Scene (14:00 – 15:00)
Moderator: Jaesuk Kim (Director of X-Large Gallery)
Panelists: Seung Min Lee (CEO, A-Lounge), Hye Jin Jee (CEO, sangheet), Nahyung Kim (CEO, ThisWeekendRoom), Inseon Kim (CEO, Space: Willing N Dealing)
 
3. KAMS × AAP Book Talk: Contingent Worlds (16:30 – 17:00)
Moderator: Michele Chan (Editor, ArtAsiaPacific)
Panelists: Onejoon Che (Artist), Gyeol Ko (Artist)
 
Saturday 6 September
1. Global Perspectives on the Korean Art Market (11:30 – 12:30)
Moderator: Sang-Hoon Kim (Professor, Seoul National University)
Panelists: Jiseon Lee Isbara (President, School of the Art Institute of Chicago), Vivienne Chow (London Correspondent, Artnet News), Mami Kataoka (Director, Mori Art Museum)
 
2. Questioning Creativity: Art and the New Frontier (14:00 – 15:00)
Moderator: Iain Robertson (Professor, Hongik University)
Panelists: Jinjoon Lee (Artist & Professor, Graduate School of Culture Technology, KAIST), Alfredo Cramerotti (Director, Media Majlis Museum), Hyojung Seo (Artist & Professor, SADI)
 
3. Special Exhibition Talk: A Mind on Display (16:30 – 17:00)
Moderator: Yuli Yoon (Curator, Ilmin Museum of Art)
Panelists: Purat Osathanugrah (Chairman & Founder of Dib Bangkok, Art Collector), Tomoya Iwata (Director, The 5th Floor), Ju-mi Park (Psychiatrist, Art Collector), Bryant Chao (Art Collector)

References

• 키아프 서울 보도자료 (Kiaf SEOUL Press Release)