Frieze Seoul to Move Into Zaha Hadid's Dongdaemun Design Plaza in 2027
Frieze Seoul is packing up. The art fair, which has taken over the COEX convention center in Seoul's Gangnam district since launching in 2022, will relocate to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in 2027, Frieze announced on 14 August 2026 (Artnet News; Frieze press release).
The reason is concrete: COEX is set for an 18-month renovation, which will overlap with Frieze's 2027 edition (Seoul Economic Daily). Rather than ride out the disruption, the fair is moving across town.
The DDP, which opened in 2014, is one of Seoul's most recognisable buildings — a sprawling, fluid-form structure of aluminium panels and swooping curves designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid. It sits in the Dongdaemun area, a neighbourhood better known for its round-the-clock fashion markets than for blue-chip art galleries, and has hosted exhibitions, design fairs and product launches. For Frieze, it is both a practical substitute and a visually distinctive one.
Frieze Seoul's 2027 edition at the DDP will be the fair's sixth (Ocula). This year's edition runs from 2 to 5 September 2026 at COEX, giving the Gangnam venue one more Frieze outing before the move.
One detail that will not change is the fair's partnership with KIAF Seoul, the homegrown Korean art fair that has run alongside Frieze since the latter arrived in the market. KIAF will stay at COEX through the renovation, but the two fairs will continue collaborating on ticketing, programming and other activities, according to the Frieze press release.
That split-venue arrangement is unusual for what has been effectively a paired week on Seoul's cultural calendar. Whether collectors and galleries shuttling between Gangnam and Dongdaemun in the same week will find that friction or added energy is an open question — one the market will answer when the 2027 fair opens.
Frieze, whose CEO is Simon Fox, currently runs fairs in London, New York, Los Angeles and Seoul, with a new Abu Dhabi edition planned for November 2026. The Seoul fair is the company's only Asia-Pacific outpost, and its continuation — albeit in a new home — signals commitment to a market that has drawn increasing attention from international dealers and auction houses.
The DDP has held large-scale exhibitions before, including touring shows of contemporary art and fashion. Hosting a commercial art fair is a different proposition: gallery booths, lighting rigging, security protocols and the logistics of moving high-value works all place demands on a venue that a public exhibition does not. The fair's layout at the DDP has not been detailed.
For now, the calendar is set. Frieze Seoul 2026 opens at COEX next month. In 2027, it crosses the river.
