The Nation's First Art Fair 'Hwarang Art Festival' Opens at COEX on the 19th

'2020 Hwarang Art Fair X Naver Art Window Special Exhibition' Enables Online Viewing and Purchase of Entries

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The '2020 Hwarang Art Fair' will be held from the 19th to the 23rd at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu.

Marking its 38th edition, this year's Hwarang Art Fair features 110 galleries, members of the Korea Gallery Association, exhibiting over 3,000 works by approximately 530 artists across various fields including sculpture, installation, media, and painting. Established in 1979, the Hwarang Art Fair is Korea's first art fair aimed at popularizing Korean art and revitalizing the art market.

This year, in collaboration with Korea's largest portal Naver, an online platform titled '2020 Hwarang Art Fair X Naver Art Window Special Exhibition' will be available, allowing visitors to view and purchase works without physically attending the venue. Visitors concerned about attending the exhibition due to the novel coronavirus (Wuhan pneumonia) outbreak can enjoy and purchase artworks online through the '2020 Hwarang Art Fair X Naver Art Window Special Exhibition.' The platform features videos capturing the exhibition hall's overall view along with individually filmed booths of the 110 participating galleries. The '2020 Hwarang Art Fair X Naver Art Window Special Exhibition' opens simultaneously with the 2020 Hwarang Art Fair on the 19th and offers works exhibited at the fair at a 10% discounted price until the end of this month.

The Gallery Association also announced that for visitors' convenience, facilities such as a VIP lounge, docent points, and special exhibitions will be concentrated in the center of the venue.

Inside the VIP lounge, a space will be set up where visitors can view some of the special exhibition 'ZOOM-IN' curated by the Hwarang Art Fair. The 'ZOOM-IN' emerging artist contest, organized in collaboration with Naver Grafolio, is a curated exhibition that discovers artists and introduces them to galleries and the general public. Additionally, a special exhibition in partnership with Art Gyeonggi (Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation) will be held to support Gyeonggi Province artists' entry into the art market and to promote market revitalization.

This year, media booths will be set up by Maison Marie Claire, Monthly Art, Art in Culture, and Art Now, while the art materials specialist company 'Holbein' will also have a booth exhibiting and selling various art supplies such as richly colored paints and high-quality brushes.

For the first time, a talk program will be organized at this year's Hwarang Art Fair. It will include artist talks by participants of 'ZOOM-IN' and the Art Gyeonggi special exhibition, as well as talks by prominent figures in the art world.

The Gallery Association plans to hold an event where about 10 print artworks from its own collection will be given away to visitors through a lottery.

Regarding measures against the novel coronavirus, thermal cameras will be installed at the main entrance, contactless thermometers will be available, and masks and hand sanitizers will be provided to attendees and gallery staff. Hand sanitizers will be supplied to each of the 110 participating galleries so that visitors can sanitize their hands anytime. COEX plans to conduct special disinfection twice daily and will disinfect the exhibition hall interior every day after visitors leave.