CULTURE · EVENTS
Es Devlin's First Korean Solo Show at Futura Seoul in Bukchon, Until Jan. 17
Why NOW picked itA good pick if you want an exhibition you take part in rather than just look at. The 15-minute stranger-portrait table is the centrepiece, and it works solo or with a friend.
British stage designer Es Devlin's first solo exhibition in Korea runs at Futura Seoul in Bukchon until Jan. 17, 2027. Expect a room of 10,000 books, a maze made only of mirrors and a long table where you draw a stranger's face for 15 minutes. Tickets are 22,000 won.
10,000 books, then a mirror maze
After a short wait you enter a first room shelved with 10,000 books, where video and Devlin's voice play over the spines. It opens into a maze made entirely of mirrors, where you meet strangers' faces instead of your own.
Hankyung reports that every work was newly made in Seoul over two years of preparation.
250 Seoul species and a chorus in eight languages
The elliptical installation 'Come Home Again' holds 250 Seoul species Devlin drew over four months, with birdsong, insect sounds and a chorus in eight languages.
The gallery sits in Gahoe-dong, in the middle of Bukchon's hanok neighbourhood.
Draw a stranger for 15 minutes, no talking
At the long table you draw the face of the stranger opposite you for 15 minutes without speaking; the finished drawings stay in the gallery. Devlin called the table 'effectively the whole exhibition'.
On the second floor, a screen built from sketchbooks collected over 30 years lets you take one sketch home after the film.
22,000 won; ask about hours
Admission is 22,000 won. e-flux says Futura Seoul takes RSVPs through a form on its website and follows up after submission. Opening hours and closed days were not stated in the sources.
The address is 61 Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu.
Sources & context
2026-10-29T05:27:28.333Z
e-flux · 3rd Poem: Es Devlin, Come Home Again ↗Hankyung · 2026-08-20 ↗Wikimedia Commons · Bgag ↗Wikimedia Commons · Basile Morin ↗Photo credit
Bgag (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0A Bukchon Hanok Village lane with N Seoul Tower in the distance (2022, Bgag, CC BY-SA 4.0). A photo of the Bukchon neighbourhood, not of the exhibition.
Photo credit
Basile Morin (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0The Bukchon-ro 11-gil hanok lane at blue hour with a street lamp lit (2024, Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0). Not a photo of the exhibition.
