Silver aluminum tableware sits neatly arranged on a long dining table surrounded by chairs. At first glance, it appears to be a peaceful dining scene, but the perspective shifts upon learning these utensils were made by melting down remnants of bombs dropped on Laos more than 60 years ago.
Busan-based artist Song Sung-jin, 51, prompts viewers to reconsider how the indelible history of a place pushes its people into certain lives through "How to Move a Bomb," a work where war crosses the everyday space of a dining table.
About a kilometer from Ilmin Museum of Art in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, where the piece is displayed, another story of coexistence unfolds at Kumho Museum of Art in Samcheong-dong.
"New Swallow Town," featuring dozens of gleaming cylinders stacked like nests, documents swallow habitats that Ulsan-based artist Koo Ji-eun, 39, tracked across the country over three years. Fragmented images of swallows nesting on electrical boxes and power lines fill the rotating cylinders. By observing swallows that have relocated due to climate change, the work envisions a future where humans and non-humans achieve balance.
A major exhibition showcasing the current state of regional visual arts has arrived at the heart of Seoul's exhibition scene in Gwanghwamun and Samcheong-dong. "2025 ARKO LEAP," which opened simultaneously at Ilmin Museum of Art, Kumho Museum of Art, and Hakgojae Art Center on January 12, spotlights 17 mid-career artists who have built their own artistic worlds while actively working in regional areas.
Though spread across three venues, the exhibition covers a wide range of themes: the scars of war, climate crisis, women's labor, urban desires, and human anxiety. The accumulated artistic achievements of "nationally significant" artists carefully selected and supported by 14 metropolitan cultural foundations are presented in new contexts.
The exhibition is also notable as the first showcase of the Arts Council Korea's newly launched "Regional Arts Advancement Support Project" this year. Through this initiative, ARKO aims to strengthen collaboration between regional and central institutions while filling gaps and eliminating redundancies to complete an efficient support model.
Regional cultural foundations handle artist discovery and creative support, while ARKO provides growth infrastructure difficult to obtain locally, such as connecting artists with curators and critics networks and matching exhibition spaces.
"Regional institutions that best understand artists' potential provide first-stage support for growth, while the central body offers second-stage 'jump-up' resources for expansion and refinement," an ARKO official explained. "The goal is to restore regional art ecosystems by connecting regional discovery with central advancement."
ARKO plans to expand cooperation to include provincial and municipal art museums nationwide, helping regional artists advance beyond Seoul to international markets.
Initial assessments have been positive. Artists who participated over the past six months expressed high satisfaction. They noted the project provided opportunities to exchange with artists from other regions while receiving artistic guidance from professional critics and curators, allowing them to view their existing work in broader contexts.
Above all, expectations were high about communicating with wider audiences through properly presented works in well-curated exhibition spaces at Seoul's art center. Many participants said they had limited experience exhibiting in Seoul, or when they did, it was mostly at small galleries or alternative spaces, leaving them with regrets.
Most participating artists presented works scaled up significantly from their previous pieces. Hong Hee-ryung, who explores human psychology including tension and anxiety through large-scale installations combining technology, expanded her previous small-scale work on insomnia into a 3-meter-high curtain and massive bed installation.
Gangwon-based artist Kim Joo-hwan also revealed tension between nature's vitality and human desire through high-contrast black-and-white installations using various materials including wood and white plastic objects.
The project also supported archiving and publication initiatives to help artists with 10 to 20 years of practice compile their artistic worlds. Son Mong-ju, who presented "Mongjuverse," a digital archive expanding and recreating previous installation works in virtual space, said: "I was so focused on immediate creation that I neglected documenting my past work and self-branding. This became an opportunity to establish more solid roots as an artist."
The exhibition quality has also drawn praise. Organizers invested considerable effort to create an appealing exhibition that goes beyond simply introducing regional artists to satisfy audiences.
"We communicated extensively to ensure accomplished artists wouldn't be overlooked simply because they're 'regional artists,'" said Choi Hye-in, curator at Ilmin Museum of Art. "Beyond individual shows presenting each artist's world, visitors can enjoy the exhibition as a group show encountering various layers of 'sense of place.'"
The exhibition runs free of charge until January 10 next year.
