The awards ceremony and exhibition opening for the 2005 Hermes Korea Art Award, co-organized by Hermès Korea and Art Sonje Center, took place on October 21, 2005, at Art Sonje Center. This exhibition also marked the reopening of Art Sonje Center, which had undergone remodeling earlier that year in preparation for presenting a refreshed program. Beginning in 2006, the Hermes Korea Art Award exhibition has been held at the newly opened Hermès Korea Gallery.

The shortlisted artists for the 2005 award were Ku Jung-A, Kim Sora, and Nikki Lee. The three artists presented their works at Art Sonje Center starting October 21, and the final recipient of the award was selected through a second-round jury review held on the opening day.

The jury consisted of five distinguished figures from the Korean and international art fields: Franck Gautherot, Co-Director of Le Consortium–Centre d’Art Contemporain in Dijon; Kim Young-soon, Artistic Director of the Seoul Arts Center; Lee Young-jun, Professor in the Department of Photographic Arts at Kaywon University of Art & Design; Im Hee-joo, Executive Vice President of the Contemporary Art Museum Association; and Kwok Kian Chow, Director of the Singapore Art Museum.

Ku Jung-A, who has been based in Paris for the past decade, has developed a practice that transforms given spaces, objects, and materials within specific environments. Her site-specific works are both mysterious and elusive, seeking methodologies that move beyond traditional sculpture and conceptual dematerialization.

Kim Sora is known for her keen insight into the rapidly shifting landscape of contemporary art, culture, and society. Her interests range widely—from questions of value and abstraction to issues of markets and distribution, as well as national and cultural identity. While engaging these broad concerns, her work demonstrates a flexible and multifaceted mode of thinking.

Nikki Lee, a Korean artist residing in the United States, presents the process of cultural adaptation experienced by immigrants through the format of snapshot photography. Her recent projects combine photographic works with video projections. Emerging from her interest in the production of layered meanings, these works suggest the direction of her ongoing inquiry into identity.