Culture Minister Yu In-chon gears up for Korea Art Festival

Culture Minister Yu In-chon visited the Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival, or Asyaaf, in preparation for the upcoming Korea Art Festival the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is hosting this fall.

Visitors take part in the VIP opening of Frieze Seoul 2023 on Sept. 6, 2023, at Coex convention hall in southern Seoul. Frieze Seoul ran until Sept. 9 in tandem with KIAF, or the Korea International Art Fair, also in COEX. [YONHAP]

Culture Minister Yu In-chon visited the Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival, or Asyaaf, in preparation for the upcoming Korea Art Festival the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is hosting this fall.

The festival will promote major art-related events nationwide, including the Gwangju Biennale (slated from Sept. 7 to Dec. 1), the Busan Biennale (Saturday to Oct. 20), Seoul Art Week (Sept. 2 to 8), Asyaaf (July 30 to Aug. 25), KIAF Seoul (Sept. 4 to 8) and Frieze Seoul (Sept. 4 to 7).

The ministry will implement special events and discounts to garner more visitors to these exhibits, including a 30 percent discount for those who purchase a joint pass to the Gwangju and Busan Biennale on Interpark Ticket.

More discounts can be viewed on the festival’s website.

The ministry also curated 16 courses in which tour guides will take visitors across seven regions (Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Gwangju, Daegu, Busan and Jeju) to explore their art museums and galleries. Some of these courses target foreigners. The entire tour lasts from Sept. 1 to 11.

Reservations begin on Monday at 10 a.m. on the festival’s website and cost 5,000 won ($3.60) per person.

The ministry's “Dive into Korean Art: Seoul” program will bring 12 overseas art industry insiders to the country to learn about nine Korean artists and their works from Sept. 1 to 8. The insiders will also discuss contemporary art at seminars during Frieze and KIAF, which are open for the public to attend.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]