Peering Into the Future of Asian Art... "ACC NEXT" Emerging Artists Exhibition

From February 5 to March 29 at the Asia Culture Center
Five Teams of Artists from Korea, China, and Taiwan Present 16 Works
Showcasing Contemporary Asian Art through Video, Installation, Sound, and More

The Asia Culture Center under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (headed by President Kim Sangwook) announced on the 5th that it will hold the exhibition "ACC NEXT: Emerging Asian Artists," which highlights up-and-coming artists who will lead the future of Asian art, at Complex Exhibition Hall 5 through March 29.

Still from 'Mandela Memory' by Taiwanese artist Chiu Ziyen. Photo by National Asia Culture Center

"ACC NEXT" is one of the Asia Culture Center's flagship support programs for emerging artists. It discovers talented emerging artists from across Asia, supports their creative and production activities, and presents the results through exhibitions. The program aims to introduce the currents of contemporary Asian art to audiences both in Korea and abroad.

This exhibition features a total of 16 works by 5 teams (6 artists) of promising creators from Korea and overseas, including Korean artists Kang Suji and Lee Hayoung, Lee Jooyeon, and Lee Sima, as well as Yuanyuan Wang from China and Chiu Zhiyen from Taiwan. The participating artists have been selected as emerging creators who move fluidly across genres and media, and who possess an experimental attitude and a clear artistic vision centered on Asian visual culture.

The exhibited works address a wide range of themes, including personal memory, social anxiety, historical events, and the environment of images and technology. Through diverse formats such as video, installation, sound, and performance, the artists unfold stories that originate from their own lives and surroundings, naturally revealing the realities and concerns that contemporary Asian societies commonly face.

By placing the concerns and expressive methods of the participating artists together within a single space, the exhibition offers a multilayered perspective on the present state of Asia, which is difficult to define with a single image. As visitors move through the exhibition following the works, they can experience intersecting senses and viewpoints.

The work 'Poisonous Mushroom' by artists Kang Suji and Lee Hayoung. Photo by National Asia Culture Center.

The Asia Culture Center plans to develop "ACC NEXT" not as a one-off exhibition, but as a platform that continuously observes and documents the creative activities of emerging Asian artists and the flow of contemporary art. In particular, by expanding opportunities for emerging Korean artists, including those based in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, to participate in exhibitions of international scale, the center expects to contribute to the growth of local culture and the arts.

Kim Sangwook, President of the Asia Culture Center, said, "'ACC NEXT' is a starting point for gauging what trajectory the aesthetic practices of a new generation will trace going forward," adding, "We hope it will become a place to imagine the future of Asian art together through the experimentation and exchange of emerging Asian artists."

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