Art Busan 2018 Closes With Record High Numbers

ART BUSAN 2018 has ended its 4-day long journey of art festival successfully in Busan, Korea. With the VIP Preview on April 19th, its 7th Edition from April 20-22 in BEXCO, Busan, presented around 4,000 artworks from 161 participating galleries of 15 countries. This year ART BUSAN witnessed a record-breaking number of visitors of over 60,000, although the fair was reduced one day to only 4 days. On Sunday April 22 alone, ART BUSAN welcomed 20,000 visitors on its last opening day. A representative of ART BUSAN’s Organizing Committee said that “not only were we able to gather art collectors and related personnel in and outside of Korea, this year we were able to attract strong interest among the publics of Busan and Korea in overall, with clear improvements in quality and variety of programs we offered.” And it wasn’t difficult to sense the satisfaction among the participating galleries. JEONG Yoonho, the director of second time participating PKM Gallery, told “the increase in the number of visitors and their interests in art at this year’s ART BUSAN was very apparent. I am also satisfied with this year’s sales in comparison to last year.“ LEE Kyung-min, general director of Whistle, a Seoul-based gallery that participated for the first time at ART BUSAN’s young gallery sponsor program ‘S-Booth,’ also reported “good sales result with many collectors visiting from Seoul and abroad. ART BUSAN is also a nice platform for meeting with various collectors of Busan.” And she also added, “I hope that special exhibition programs that focus on artists from Asia-Pacific and new artists receive more spotlight next year in Busan, as one could find from Art Basel Hong Kong model.

Last November ART BUSAN also initiated its first sponsoring program for young artists in Busan, called ‘Project ART BUSAN,’ and its first grand prize was awarded to Hyun yeop KIM. ART BUSAN 2018 offered KIM a solo exhibition booth during the fair. “The award has provided me with new opportunities. I was also able to make myself fair sales as well. I now take responsibility as a regional artist and I will always try to approach more and further” said KIM. He also wished for “more opportunities and sponsorship programs for other emerging regional artists.”

Tomio Koyama, director of internationally reputed Tomio Koyama Gallery that participated in ART BUSAN since 2015, said “the overall quality of the booths has improved significantly, allowing us to exhibit larger artworks and audience to enjoy more variety of works.” And with additional special programs ART BUSAN 2018 seemed livelier and diverse in terms of what it offered. Koyama was also “impressed with deep-knowledge and high standard of Busan art market and the collectors.” Audrey YEO, director of Yeo Workshop, a first-time participant from Singapore, said “I was glad to see not only top-level artworks, but also more artworks in the affordable price-range that is ideal for those beginning their collections. I was able to understand the Korean art market and make networks with regional galleries.” One of the primary concerns for the organizers was to design the most ideal hall plan that both considers and satisfies the styles and demands of participating galleries. Indeed, this applies to every art fair. This year, ART BUSAN received favorable reviews in terms of hall plan that considered the characteristics of galleries without compensating the pleasantness from the audience.

This year’s focus was also laid onto its Special Exhibitions. Shinji OHMAKI’s 7m high media installation work overwhelmed the entire hall 3B and every audience that came by, marking a highlight for ART BUSAN 2018. PARK Eun-un’s grand marble sculptures from Pietrasata, Italy, were installed at the BEXCO Square, where the visitors could feel the splendor and magnificence of Parthenon. The 4th Hwaseung Artist Award, by ART BUSAN’s title sponsor Hwaseung Group, was awarded to Nakhee SUNG (Gallery em) and her works will be exhibited at Hwaseung head office in Seoul. ART BUSAN plans to further activate and encourage the sponsorship activities of businesses for regional art and cultural events.

The audience and participating galleries could witness how ART BUSAN has given much effort in upgrading the fair; from the VIP Opening Party with Cartier, smooth management of the fair operation, to various new programs such as Art Film Festival, in cooperation with Busan Cinema Center, and Art Bus guided tour programs of cultural highlights of west Busan. And for g.gallery, it was the first year participating at ART BUSAN. For director Seung-jin JEONG “it was a favorable surprise to be able to meet with many collectors in Busan,” as the gallery had only participated in fairs in Seoul and abroad in the past.

The sales of top-level artworks such as Julian Opie and Ugo Rondinone (Kukje Gallery), PAIK Nam june (Gallery Hyundai), LEE Ufan (Gana Art) have been confirmed to have found their new respective owners. Small and medium-size galleries have also reported good sales result this year. ART BUSAN plans to improve its effort in offering distinguished and specialized contents, making it as a selling point in the flow of art markets. We also believe in the value of broadening our scope of audience and interest from galleries, artist and collectors, to general audience. Younghee SOHN, president of ART BUSAN said, “ART BUSAN and our team will, in cooperation and collaboration with regional businesses and institutions, strive to more develop and stimulate a transparent art market, where streams of collectors from all over the world like to visit like Art Basel Hong Kong.”The audience and participating galleries could witness how ART BUSAN has given much effort in upgrading the fair; from the VIP Opening Party with Cartier, smooth management of the fair operation, to various new programs such as Art Film Festival, in cooperation with Busan Cinema Center, and Art Bus guided tour programs of cultural highlights of west Busan. And for g.gallery, it was the first year participating at ART BUSAN. For director Seung-jin JEONG “it was a favorable surprise to be able to meet with many collectors in Busan,” as the gallery had only participated in fairs in Seoul and abroad in the past.

The sales of top-level artworks such as Julian Opie and Ugo Rondinone (Kukje Gallery), PAIK Nam june (Gallery Hyundai), LEE Ufan (Gana Art) have been confirmed to have found their new respective owners. Small and medium-size galleries have also reported good sales result this year. ART BUSAN plans to improve its effort in offering distinguished and specialized contents, making it as a selling point in the flow of art markets. We also believe in the value of broadening our scope of audience and interest from galleries, artist and collectors, to general audience. Younghee SOHN, president of ART BUSAN said, “ART BUSAN and our team will, in cooperation and collaboration with regional businesses and institutions, strive to more develop and stimulate a transparent art market, where streams of collectors from all over the world like to visit like Art Basel Hong Kong.”