Frieze Live, a program dedicated to performance art, will make its debut in Asia at Frieze Seoul in September. Titled “신·경(神經): Nerve or Divine Pathway,” the inaugural edition will feature five performances by seven Korean artists exploring the role of poetry in performance art.

Hosting more than 110 exhibitors at Coex in the capital city’s Gangnam district from September 4 to 7, this year’s Frieze Seoul will showcase “the vibrancy and momentum of Korea’s contemporary art scene,” Frieze Seoul director Pat Lee said in a statement. Now in its third edition, it will run concurrently with biennials in Gwangju and Busan.

Frieze Live was previously staged at Frieze London, where it last appeared in 2021. The Seoul version will be curated by Art Sonje Center’s project director, Je Yun Moon, and run at Coex during the fair, with performances that aim to push the boundaries of poetic expression through movement, sound, and visual elements, understanding the human body as a language, and making poetry into a “multisensory experience,” according to a statement from the organizers. The project is backed by DYAD, a private club in South Korea.

Activation Day. Jesse Chun, score for unlanguaging performance with Yeonhee (Kim Hyangsooree, Ahn Yoohee). Photo: Seowon Nam ⓒ 2024. Art Sonje Center all rights reserved.

Cha Yeonså (b. 1997) will draw inspirations from South Korean poet Eon Hee Kim‘s work, reinterpreting Buddhist rituals for the dead and the living. Jesse Chun (b. 1984) will blend traditional Korean folk dance with her exploration of non-linear language. Hong Ji Young (b. 1987) will examine the human body as a canvas. The intricacies of social networks will be explored in a participatory performance by Jang Sumi. Kim Wonyoung and Project YYIN (Rha Sinae, Choi Kisub) will offer their take on Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A (1968) with a performance in wheelchairs.

Other programming during the fair will include film screenings organized by Joowon Park, a curator at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in South Korea, and Tate Modern curator Valentine Umansky. Frieze Films is being co-presented with the outdoor media art festival EMAP (Ewha Media Art Presentation) and will take place at Ewha Womans University. The program, titled “All that Weaves the Universe: A Question of Quantum Entanglements,” will feature time-based media works from more than 20 artists from around the world, including Alison Nguyen, Clemens von Wedemeyer, and Zheng Bo.

The fair will also feature a talks program in collaboration with the Kiaf Seoul art fair and the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS). In addition, it will partner with Arts Council Korea for the second year in a row to support projects at 16 nonprofit space across Seoul, Gwangju, and Busan.