Unveiling Highlights from Design Miami’s Illuminated Seoul Exhibition
A Contemporary Lens on Korean Craft
In a quiet yet stimulating gesture of cultural exchange, Design Miami’s inaugural Seoul edition arrives this September 1–14, 2025, within the sinuous curves of Zaha Hadid’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Timed alongside the international art fairs Frieze Seoul and Kiaf, the exhibition, titled Illuminated: A Spotlight on Korean Design, invites visitors into an evocative dialogue between heritage and innovation, past and present, East and West.
Marking the launch of the new Design Miami.In Situ initiative and created in collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation, the exhibition presents more than 170 pieces, curated by celebrated design expert Hyeyoung Cho. Here, “조명 (jo-myeong)”, the Korean word for “illumination”, becomes both metaphor and mission: to cast light not only on the works themselves but also on the generational narratives they carry.
Rooted in Legacy
The exhibition’s most arresting pieces are less about spectacle than about stillness. Take Moon Jar (2024) by Dongjun Kim. Presented by Gallery LVS & Craft, the deceptively simple porcelain vessel reverberates with the spirit of the Joseon Dynasty. Fired in an ancient wood kiln and shaped by hand, its asymmetry is not a flaw but a philosophy, an invitation to see beauty in imperfection, to touch time through texture.
Presented by Gallery SKLO (Seoul), Joonyong Kim’s cast-blowing glass creations transform fleeting light into tangible form, exploring the porous boundary between matter and space. His glass sculptures become silent meditations on impermanence, where fragility meets resilience in a delicate balance of shadow and illumination.
Kyounghee Kim, working in the time-honored Korean patchwork tradition of bojagi, reimagines silk organza into architectural compositions. Each piece reflects an ethos of preservation and restraint, where sustainability is not an aesthetic afterthought but a philosophy embedded in form.
The Art of Patience
Dayhe Jeong’s basket-form sculpture, presented by SOLUNA FINE CRAFT (Seoul), exemplifies a masterful commitment to material and time. Meticulously woven from horsehair, the piece captures the lingering cadence of slow craft while quietly bridging centuries-old technique with a contemporary sensibility. At nearly half a meter in width, it is both restrained and resonant, a vessel of tradition reimagined.
Second Surface Chandelier 02 by Kyeok Kim, represented by Charles Burnand Gallery (London), threads copper wire into a luminous constellation. Here, the ancient Korean lacquer technique of ottchil takes on new life in a form that is crocheted, layered, and refracted, with each thread catching light like a memory suspended mid-flicker.
Stoic Grace
Byung Hoon Choi’s stone and clay sculptures (afterimage of beginning, 2021&2018) bridge eras with steadfast beauty. Exhibited by Friedman Benda(New York/Los Angeles), the pieces are both serene and monumental, poised between sculpture and furniture, between permanence and ephemerality.
Presented by Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery, Seoul-born Wonmin Park ‘s Stone & Steel series probes the tension between nature and industry. Volcanic rock’s rugged texture contrasts sharply with the refined precision of steel, merging raw elemental force with meticulous craftsmanship.
Presented by Charles Burnand Gallery (London), Myungtaek Jung uses cast bronze to explore presence, ritual, and stillness in his work. His new Pounding Silence bench from 2025 is inspired by Korea’s ancient daetdol stones, monolithic markers that define boundaries and ceremonial sites.
Redefining the Everyday
Minjae Kim, one of the most lauded names of Korea’s emerging design vanguard, brings a trio of deeply personal pieces—Daybed with Pillow, Ruffled Chair, and Lamp with Roof. Exhibited by Marta (Los Angeles), the works suggest an artist’s retreat, where craft becomes a sanctuary. A silk mattress nods to Korean tradition while Western lines reframe its context; a ruffled wooden chair straddles fragility and strength; a quilted fiberglass lamp glows with quiet intimacy.
In the hands of Jay Sae Jung Oh, the banal becomes extraordinary. Her Salvage Series, presented by Salon 94 Design(New York), transforms discarded household items into bound forms coated in layers of rawhide. What emerges is both sculpture and social commentary, a poetic reflection on excess, resourcefulness, and reinvention.
Kwangho Lee’s Copper Enamel Chair (2022), also at Salon 94 Design, pulses with energy. Its organic, irregular shape and rich oxidized surface reflect the artist’s fascination with material tension—where motion, transformation, and tactility meet.
And from the Seoul-based duo FABRIKR comes the Sparrow Chair and Nest Table. Crafted from epoxy resin, these sculptural works blur the line between narrative and utility, embodying a material language that is both experimental and deeply intentional.
As a meditation on the enduring spirit of Korean craftsmanship, the show invites a contemplative encounter where history and modernity dissolve boundaries and design becomes a living conversation, continually shaping and being shaped by the human experience.
Original Article
Design Miami Seoul 2025: A Contemporary Lens on Korean Craft
