ART OnO, the South Korean boutique fair, arrives in Seoul from April 3 (Friday) to April 5 (Sunday), 2026, coinciding with Easter. It will also be held this year at the SETEC (Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention).
The fair, in its third edition, arrives right after Art Basel Hong Kong and offers an alternative to a muscular fair like Frieze Seoul (4th edition in September). JaeMyung Noh, founding collector, focuses on a smaller scale to prioritize diversity, bringing new collectors closer to emerging artists. All this with affordable prices, both for the artworks and the stands at the fair.
ART OnO is an acronym for «Art One and Only». The international fair fits into a niche, focusing on curated presentations and the dialogue between institutions. There are 37 exhibitors in total, which will allow, thanks to the contained size, to weave relationships with gallerists, artists, and collectors.
The exhibitors come from countries such as Germany, Romania, Finland, Switzerland, and Tanzania, as well as from Korea. The characteristic that distinguishes ART OnO is the search for galleries and artists less represented within the traditional Asian fair circuit.
Another peculiarity is the choice to host both important commercial galleries and non-profit institutions. Public museums are joined by private institutions, thus creating a platform where commercial bull and bear booths coexist with institutional exhibitions.
Who are the Korean exhibitors of Art OnO
Among the exhibitors, some museums stand out. Among these is the Suwon Museum of Art, located in a city characterized by ecological parks. The Jeonnam Museum of Art is located in the province of Jeollanam-do, serving as a regional artistic and cultural center. Among the artists presented at its stand is Gwon Seungchan. His work Powerless Landscape shows the brutal side of the Korean war: the massacre of the National Guidance Alliance that took place in Jangheung.
Among the local private institutions are SONGEUN, ARTSITE SOJE (Daejeon), and Chapter II.
SONGEUN is a non-profit art institution. It will present two monographic stands: one dedicated to the expanded painting of Kim Jiseon and another focused on the multimedia works of Ahn Jungju.
Regarding the commercial galleries, Gana Art, founded in Seoul in 1983, is noteworthy.
A global snapshot of contemporary art
Among the international participations, the presence of Chinese institutions and art spaces is significant. An example is the X Museum, based in Beijing. It presents the works of digital artist Rui Huang, whose practice explores a future driven by technology through a science fiction imagination. The fibre/áunn Museum is instead based in Shanghai. It proves to be a platform aimed at connecting visual art with fashion, design, and lifestyle.
From Tanzania, however, comes Rangi Gallery, based in Dar es Salaam. It stands out compared to other models with branches in Europe and America: the exhibition program and its initiatives are directly rooted in the African continent.
Nicolas Krupp, gallery based in Basel, will present the duo Monica Studer and Christoph van den Berg, pioneers of multimedia works since the 1990s. We conclude by mentioning JECZA Gallery, one of the main contemporary art galleries in Romania; Makasiini Contemporary, founded in 2016 in Helsinki; Lazy Mike based in Riga.
She has collaborated for many years with art magazines such as Artribune, XIBT Contemporary, ArtApp, Insideart and Espoarte, preferring contemporary art in its many facets and media drifts.
