'Pohang Steel Art Festival' Captivates 75,000 Visitors, Concludes with the Magic of Steel

A Festival That Unveiled New Understanding and Sensibilities Toward Steel
A Turning Point: From a "Steel Art" Festival to a City Where "Steel Becomes Art"

The industrial city of Pohang, once thought to be filled only with cold lumps of steel, has transformed into a vibrant heart of art.

The Pohang City Government announced that the 2025 Pohang Steel Art Festival, organized by the Pohang Cultural Foundation under the theme "Light and Steel" (named by Kim Hoon), concluded successfully amid high interest from both citizens and visitors.

Pohang Steel Art Festival Cheolcheol Workshop. Provided by Pohang City

This year’s festival drew such enthusiastic attention that the Dongbin Culture Warehouse 1969 exhibition was extended, and public engagement continued until the very last day.

Now in its 14th edition, the Steel Art Festival expanded beyond its traditional focus on sculpture to encompass elements of humanities, technology, and citizen participation. This shift has further clarified the festival’s direction as “Pohang, a city where steel becomes art.”

During the festival period, more than 75,000 people visited, reaffirming its status as Pohang’s leading art festival. With the timing overlapping major events such as the 2025 APEC Summit, the Pohang Drone & Fireworks Show, and the Pohang International Music Festival, the entire city was energized.

It is also evaluated that the influx of domestic and international tourists brought three distinct effects: enhancing the city’s image, increasing the cultural experience for residents and visitors, and strengthening the image of Pohang as a place where steel, technology, and art converge.

The exhibitions held during the festival were organized into three sections, each designed to let visitors experience different properties of steel. The first exhibition, “Reading Steel,” the second, “Seeing Steel Art,” and the third, “Unfolding Steel Technology,” offered new visual experiences by reflecting the material, technological, and artistic aspects of steel upon each other.

City Forest Cheolcheol Tour. Provided by Pohang City

The citizen participation programs were also met with great enthusiasm. Both the “Cheolcheol Workshop Steel Art Workshop” and the “Cheolcheol Tour” were fully booked in advance, allowing families, youth, and local communities to experience, learn about, and interpret steel throughout the city.

Participants expressed high satisfaction, describing their experiences as “a special time to engage with art by working with steel firsthand” and “a valuable program unique to Pohang citizens.”

A representative of the Pohang Cultural Foundation stated, “This year, the excitement of hosting APEC and the synergy with various cultural festivals led to even greater participation from citizens and visitors than in previous years. Through the exhibitions and programs, citizens’ interest in steel has broadened, and the festival’s direction, which integrates technology and art, appears to be taking root more firmly.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.