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  Seoul gets another art fair as Art Busan opens design-led outpost

  Seoul is set to get a new fair in November focused on art and design, after the company organising Art Busan, a fair in the country’s south, secured funding to open an event in the capital. The inaugural DEFINE Seoul (1-5 November, titled after “design” and “fine art”), will feature around 35 exhibitors and take place in the Seongsu design district, centred around the Layer Studio cultural complex, but with events spilling out into design studios and other locations across the neighbourhood.“We are witnessing increased attention on Korea’s art and cultural scene from abroad like never before,” says Seokho Jeong, Art Busan’s managing director. Indeed, since the launch of Frieze Seoul, the city has seemingly cemented itself as a key market hub, but Jeong says that Art Busan has been “carefully monitoring the market” since well before the advent of Frieze Seoul, and was “considering various possibilities to expand prior to Covid”. In 2020, Art Busan staged a separate design section at its Busan fair, as a trial run for a standalone event.While Frieze Seoul caters more to Western tastes, the organisers of DEFINE say their fair will focus on an “eastern aesthetic and Korean heritage”. The interior designer Teo Yang, who has joined the fair as its artistic director, will organise the inaugural edition around the theme of “A look within matter”.The Seoul fair represents a big step up for the Art Busan brand, which has staged an annual fair in Busan since 2012. Jeong says that Art Busan will continue to expand in 2024, both in offline and digital settings, but will remain a brand “focused on the art market”. Nonetheless, he says that “often, fun ideas pop up when we collaborate with or monitor what is happening in other industries”. The first funding round, which raised an undisclosed sum, was supported by Sanghun Kim, former chief executive of Naver; Kelvin Dongho Kim, chief executive of Korea Credit Data (KCD); Tony Lyu, venture partner at SoftBank Ventures Asia; and Simon Seojoon Kim, chief executive of Hashed. The next funding round will take place in autumn next year.

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  Art Busan to launch design, art fair in Seoul in November

  Art Busan, a leading art fair based in Busan, will expand to Seoul, launching Define Seoul, a new art fair that combines design and art.The five-day fair will kick off Nov.1 in Seongsu-dong under the theme of “A Look Within Matter,” led by artistic director Yang Teo. Yang was selected as one of the world’s top 100 designers by Architectural Digest, a leading US magazine of architecture and interior design.Yang directed the 17th edition of the Craft Trend Fair held last December at Coex in Seoul, in which some 330 artists, brands and galleries participated.“We are witnessing an increase in attention on Korea’s art and cultural scene from abroad like never before. The fair aims to curate and aspire what needs to be appreciated and valued by defining and highlighting the design and art of Seoul and Korea,” said Jeong Seok-ho, managing director of Art Busan.The inaugural design and art fair aims to explore how design and art mutually influence and inspire each other, shaping new values in contemporary society, inspiring art enthusiasts, collectors and the public with new insights to design, according to Art Busan.“Under the direction of Yang Teo, the exhibition will feature a rich array of art pieces from various genres, including exclusive editions of furniture designs that encompass Eastern and Western influences,” the organizer stated in announcing the launch of Define Seoul.A variety of seminars and programs will be held in Seongsu-dong as part of the fair. The list of artists and galleries taking part has yet to be unveiled.Art Busan, inaugurated in 2012, has grown into one of the top annual art fairs in the country. In July, Art Busan secured a first round of investment from a group of leading unicorn entrepreneurs and investors.

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  디자인과 아트의 만남 '디파인 서울' 11월 첫선

  국내 미술거래 시장의 성장에 큰 역할을 해온 아트부산이 디자인과 아트를 통합한 프리미엄 페어인 '디파인 서울'(DEFINE SEOUL)을 런칭한다. 아트부산은 제1회 디파인 서울을 11월 1일부터 5일까지 성수동 일대에서 연다고 4일 밝혔다. '사물의 내면'(A Look within Matter)을 주제로 열리는 제1회 디파인 서울에는 국내외의 다양한 갤러리, 디자이너, 프리미엄 브랜드가 참가한다. 행사에서는 동서양을 아우르는 디자인 가구와 아트페어에서 만나볼 수 있는 특별 에디션 등 다양한 장르의 예술 작품을 전시한다. 이것이 취향의 발전으로 이어지는 계기가 됐으면 한다"고 말했다. 제1회 디파인 서울의 거점 장소인 성수동은 지역의 고유한 특성과 트렌디한 문화가 공존하는 곳이다. 복합문화공간 레이어스튜디오에서 메인 행사가 열리고 주제관이 설치된다. 무신사스튜디오 등에서는 디자인 세미나가 예정돼 있고, 이 일대 스튜디오 방문 프로그램도 함께 선보일 예정이다. 2012년 제1회 행사를 시작으로 국내를 대표하는 아트페어 브랜드로 성장한 아트부산은 디파인 서울 행사를 통해 아트부산의 거점을 서울로 확장하고, 나아가 글로벌 브랜드로 성장하겠다는 계획이다. 이를 위해 아트부산은 최근 투자유치에도 적극 나서 성과를 낸 것으로 전해졌다.정석호 아트부산 이사는 "그 어느 때보다 해외에서 한국을 많이 주목하는 지금, 서울의 주목받는 디자인과 아트를 우리가 스스로 정의하겠다는 목표로 행사명을 정했다"며 "최근 투자유치로 아트부산이 한단계 도약할 수 있는 큰 원동력을 얻었다"고 말했다.

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