South Korean capital Seoul has become home to a new progressive art museum following the opening of the Arario Museum in Space attraction, located inside the city’s famed Space building overlooking Changgyeong Palace.
The Space site was originally designed by pioneering South Korean architect Kim Swoo-geun and was previously home to the architect’s Space Group firm.
The launch of the new museum comes as art collector and founder of Arario galleries Kim Chang-il bought the site for US$14.6m (€11.4m, £8.9m), after it was put up for sale by the firm.
The building’s design centres around the country’s traditional hanok architecture, with the museum's four-storey brick structure housed in rising coverings of ivy. The structure also features a five-storey glass building housing different restaurants and eateries.
Arario Museum in Space’s inaugural exhibition sees Kim’s personal collection on show, which is made up from over 200 pieces by 43 international artists. Kim’s latest venture is to be used for education and exhibition purposes only.
Perhaps the most famous artwork on show belongs to British artist Marc Quinn, whose
Self creation is a cast of the artist’s own head made from litres of his own blood, which requires refrigeration in a dark room.
Such is Kim’s growing prominence in Korea and Asia, the collector plans to open three more attractions on South Korea’s Jeju island, with a project also planned for Shanghai, China.
Elsewhere, the country is expected to see a uplift in interest towards attractions from its surrounding regions as the South Korean city of
Incheon hosts the Asian Games.
