Arko Art Center Unveils 2026 Exhibition Program, Expanding the Trajectory of "Discovery and Experimentation"

Homecoming Show of the Venice Biennale, Exhibitions Linked with Emerging and Regional Artists
Five Annual Exhibitions Including Camille Norment’s First Museum Show in Asia

Arko Art Center has unveiled its 2026 exhibition program, placing its identity of "Discovery and Experimentation" at the forefront. The Arts Council Korea (Chairman Chung Byungkook) announced on the 23rd that it will expand both the experimental nature of contemporary art and the public role of the museum through a total of five exhibitions that encompass emerging, mid-career, and regional artists.

Special Exhibition of the Collection (working title)_Image_Yun Suknam. Mother 1, Nineteen Years Old. Photo by Arko Art Center

The first exhibition at Arko Art Center in 2026 will be the homecoming show of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Korean Pavilion, titled "Dear Toad, Dear Toad: Time of the House" (February 6 to April 5). Marking the 30th anniversary of the construction of the Korean Pavilion, this exhibition re-examines the pavilion from the perspective of a "house" and reconstructs the site-specific installations originally presented in Venice to suit the context of the homecoming exhibition. During the exhibition period, a forum will also be held to discuss key issues surrounding the architecture of the Korean Pavilion.

In May, a two-person exhibition linked to the Arko Visual Arts Multi-Year Grant Program for Creative Practitioners, tentatively titled "Unsynchronized Time" (May 22 to July 19), will open. The participating artists are Oh Min and Camille Norment, and Norment will be introduced to an Asian art museum for the first time through this exhibition. By dismantling the hierarchy of time and the senses, the exhibition reveals, on multiple levels, the unstable state of coexistence perceived by contemporary art.

Oh Min (left) and Norment Camille, artists in a two-person exhibition being held at Arko Art Center in May. Photo by Arko Art Center

In August, a thematic exhibition tentatively titled "Art School" (August 7 to September 27) will be presented. Focusing on the role of Insa Art Space, which has carried out the functions of discovering emerging artists and providing education from 2000 to 2025, the exhibition will explore "art as education," alternative forms of knowledge production, and the practices of various agents that constitute the art ecosystem.

In October, a special exhibition of the collection, tentatively titled "Special Exhibition of the Collection" (October 16 to November 29), will revisit Arko Art Center's collection and exhibition history within the broader trajectory of Korean contemporary art history. Based on key works accumulated since the museum’s opening, the exhibition will share the museum’s exhibition history and research achievements, providing an opportunity to shed new light on the historicity and public nature of a public art museum.

Thematic Exhibition_Art School (Working Title)_Image_Into the Rhythm. Elizabeth Eberle × Louise Thewoman Program view. 2024. Photo by Arko Art Center

At the end of the year, a collaborative exhibition (working title, December 18 to February 14, 2027) connected to the Arko Regional Arts Leap Support Program (ARKO LEAP) will follow. It will introduce new works by promising regional artists and function as a creative platform where regional artists meet audiences at cultural hubs in other regions.

An Arko Art Center representative stated, "We plan to solidify our role as a creative platform that connects emerging, mid-career, international, and regional artists, while expanding the museum’s identity of 'Discovery and Experimentation,' which has been cultivated over the past 50 years, into a contemporary language."