Art Sonje Center
Art Sonje Center
Art Sonje Center is a leading contemporary art institution that has been at the forefront of promoting artistic innovation and cultural diversity in Seoul since its establishment in 1998. With its roots in the pioneering “Sprout” exhibition program, held in 1995 in a traditional hanok home and a Western-style house on the Center’s site, Art Sonje Center has played a pivotal role in introducing Korean audiences to a diverse range of programs spanning various genres, including art, design, architecture, performance, and film.
Founded as an extension of Daewoo Foundation’s commitment to social sharing practices in the arts, Art Sonje Center is dedicated to showcasing the latest developments in global art to Korean audiences while promoting the growth of Korean art on a global scale. The founder and chairperson, Heeja K Chung, is a prominent figure in the first generation of Korean female entrepreneurs and patrons of culture and the arts. Her unwavering passion for promoting culture and art, along with her desire to honor the memory of her late son Kim Son-je, led her to establish the Sonje Museum of Art (Gyeongju) in 1991, followed by Art Sonje Center in 1998.
Art Sonje Center offers a wide range of programs, including exhibitions, performances, screenings, educational activities, and publishing, with the aim of promoting curatorial discourse, fostering new artistic productions, and building a global network for Korean contemporary art. Our steadfast commitment to artistic excellence and cultural diversity has established Art Sonje Center as a leading player in both the Korean and global contemporary art scenes.
Mission
Art Sonje Center’s mission is to advocate for contemporary art and its boundless creative potential; to share top-tier culture and art with the global community through exhibitions, research, and educational programs; to form a sustainable cultural ecosystem; and to promote free thinking and creative expressions as a culture and art platform for future generations.
Vision
- Art Sonje Center believes in the possibilities of contemporary art in society, where artists’ innovative and challenging ideas and experiments are recognized as central to contemporary art.
- It strives to provide the community with unique opportunities to engage with the work and ideas of artists while fostering creative and critical dialogues on history, society, art, and culture.
- It aspires to promote global sustainability by fostering connections among people, regions, and the world, and by exploring the role that contemporary art can play in sustainability.
Goals
- Innovation and Renewal in Contemporary Art: Art Sonje Center endeavors to foster a culture of creativity and innovation by embracing, encouraging, and developing novel ideas and experiments by artists, with the aim of reintroducing the role and potential of contemporary art to the community.
- Openness and Inclusiveness: Art Sonje Center promotes free thinking across distinctions of ethnicity, gender, and generation, aspiring to become an art institution that is open and accessible to all.
- Healthy Art World Ecosystem: Art Sonje Center establishes an organic and dynamic ecosystem that fosters connections between creators, curators, researchers, and participants, contributing to the larger global art community beyond Korea.
- Learning for the Next Generation: Art Sonje Center conducts experimental research and shares insights into the possibilities and challenges of contemporary art, with the aim of benefiting future generations.
- Art, Society, and the Planet: Art Sonje Center contemplates the interconnectedness of art, society, and the Earth, working to promote sustainable living conditions.
Major Programs
- Curatorial practice: Offering exhibitions, screenings, performances, publications, and other programs, and creating a platform for generating new knowledge through the exploration of contemporary art and diverse cultures.
- New productions: Producing artists’ innovative and challenging ideas and experiments into a reality
- Creative research: Shaping new models of knowledge production through provocative discussions on issues in society, culture, and the arts
- Learning and sharing: Raising awareness and returning art to society and the community