[Namsan Stroll] An Era When You Can Experience Great Art Without Traveling to Seoul

From Centralization to Regional Enjoyment:
The Future of the Creative Culture Economy

Beyond "Regional Museums":
Local Identities Embracing the World

The level of culture in a city is not determined solely by the number of art museums it has. What matters more is who can encounter great art, where, and how close it is to their daily lives. The recent opening of the Korean branch of the Centre Pompidou, which allows international exhibitions to be experienced domestically, is a welcome change. At the same time, it is noteworthy that the trend of major exhibitions and art discourse, long concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, is now expanding into regional areas of Korea.

Regional audiences are already engaging with exhibitions by domestic and international artists at venues such as Museum SAN in Wonju, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Cheongju, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Busan. The Gwangju Biennale, now preparing for its 16th edition in 2026, has also been a key platform for rooting innovative artistic culture in Gwangju. In the age of the creative culture economy, art can no longer remain the exclusive domain of the capital region. When citizens in regional areas are able to enjoy cultural assets close to their everyday lives, art becomes both a foundation for urban life and a resource for growth.

In fact, the number of art museums in Korea has grown rapidly. According to statistics from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, there will be 290 registered museums in 2025, more than doubling in the past decade. The question now needs to shift from "How many museums should we build?" to "What kind of city identity will each museum create?" Simply increasing the number of museums does not by itself bring about a creative cultural economy.

Internationally, the decentralization of culture and the enjoyment of the arts in regional areas have already become important strategies for urban competitiveness. The Louvre-Lens in France is a prime example. The Louvre Museum established a branch in Lens to open up the national collection, previously concentrated in Paris, to a wider audience. The Louvre explains that Louvre-Lens not only makes the national collection accessible to everyone but also symbolizes the Ministry of Culture's policy of cultural decentralization.

A recent visit to Aomori made me reflect on these issues once again. Aomori is not a major city teeming with international tourists like Tokyo or Osaka. The moment I entered the Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art in this northern Japanese city, I was reminded of how outdated the phrase "regional museum" has become.

In the museum's core space, Marc Chagall's large-scale backdrops for the ballet "Aleko" were displayed in an awe-inspiring manner, stretching nearly up to the ceiling. Even more impressive than the sheer size of the works was the fact that a regional museum proudly places a master of world art history at the very center of its space. In Aomori, visitors not only encounter Chagall but also meet Yoshitomo Nara, a world-renowned artist who hails from Aomori itself.

The core space of the Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art, "Aleko Hall," features an exhibition of Marc Chagall's series of background paintings for "Aleko." On the left side of the photo is the Act 1 background painting, "The Poet Aleko and the Fate of the Gypsies" (1942), and on the right is the Act 4 background painting, "Imaginary Scene or the Sun of Sorrow" (1942). Outside the frame, the background paintings for Acts 2 and 3 are also displayed on the left and right walls, creating a plaza-like space where visitors are surrounded on all sides by Chagall's vast artistic world. Photo by Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art

The central message of these international examples is clear: culture should not be hoarded in the center but should flow outward into the regions. Once art arrives in a region, it does not remain a mere exhibition; it becomes the foundation for education, tourism, community, regional branding, and creative industries. Experiencing great works in the regions not only expands citizens' cultural rights, but also allows these areas to develop their own dignity and appeal.

The starting point for regional museums is to bring high-quality exhibitions from Seoul to local areas. However, the ultimate goal is for each region to nurture its own artists and content into global cultural assets. The movement of outstanding exhibitions is just the beginning; the next challenge is to create a unique artistic ecosystem specific to the region.

In this context, the special exhibition "Brilliant Light and Artistic Spirit" held at Art House Cheorwon in Gangwon Province is a meaningful example. Hosted and organized by the Cheorwon Cultural Foundation and operated by Art Token, the Artcube 2R2 Gallery is participating in exhibition planning and collaboration. This exhibition highlights the works of female masters—such as Park Rae-hyun, Chun Kyung-ja, Bang Hye-ja, and Yoon Suk-nam—who have established independent artistic worlds within the flow of modern and contemporary Korean art. The fact that a women's art exhibition previously shown at Artcube 2R2 Gallery in Gangnam, Seoul, has now expanded to Cheorwon exemplifies an experiment in shifting exhibition content from the capital region to the provinces.

This is precisely why "Brilliant Light and Artistic Spirit" in Cheorwon is so significant. The experimental forms of Park Rae-hyun, the unique color paintings of Chun Kyung-ja, Bang Hye-ja's philosophy on light, and Yoon Suk-nam's narratives of women and memory are all important assets in Korean art history. When these works are not confined to specific spaces in Seoul but instead meet citizens and audiences in Cheorwon, the exhibition takes on new social significance. Art moves, the region responds, and audiences experience key moments in Korean art history right where they live.

The future of culture opens up when more people can encounter great art closer to home. The Cheorwon exhibition is a small but significant starting point for this possibility. A city where you can appreciate the shining works of Korean art history without traveling to Seoul, a society where artistic pride grows in the everyday life of the region—this is the direction the creative culture economy should pursue.

Jisook Hong, CEO of Art Token and Convergent Content Planner

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.