September In Seoul: Must-See Cultural Events & Museum Exhibitions

Curious about the special exhibitions and must-visit events in Seoul this September? You’re in luck! We’re here to help you discover all the exciting happenings in the capital city that you can have right at your fingertips!

Although autumn is on the horizon, the heat of summer can still be felt all across Korea. So it’s still a good idea to spend the day inside one of Seoul’s many museums and art galleries. Offering a wide range of exhibitions, they provide a small glimpse into the world of art. The art on display is made by a mixture of Korean and foreign artists. They range from permanent to temporary exhibitions that are only around for a limited amount of time. So seize the opportunity while they’re still here, or else you might never get the chance again!

Here are the events and exhibitions we suggest checking out heading into September.

1. Agarmon Encyclopedia: Leaked Edition

Duration of the exhibition: August 1st, 2025 ~ February 1st, 2026
Location: National Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art
Location tip: Located close to Gyeonbokgung palace
Price: Free
Learn more here

For the debut of the MMCA×LG OLED Series, artist TZUSOO presents “Agarmon Encyclopedia: Leaked Edition,” a multimedia installation featuring the sculpture Agarmon and a two-channel video titled The Eight Spirits of Flesh. Known for exploring gender, identity, and digital-native culture, TZUSOO combines organic and digital elements to explore themes of life and desire.

2. Souvenirs

Duration of the exhibition: May 27th, 2025 ~ September 14th, 2025
Location: National Folk Museum of Korea
Location tip: Located by Gyeongbokgung palace
Price: Free
Learn more here

This exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the meaning of commemoration and the role of souvenirs in preserving memories. As we navigate life’s meaningful moments, we often seek to remember them through tangible objects. Souvenirs become tokens of our desire to hold on to what is precious. Surrounded by these mementos, the exhibition encourages a reconsideration of why we commemorate and what truly makes something a “souvenir.” It prompts a personal reflection on how small artifacts can carry deep emotional and commemorative significance.

3. Nation of the Bow: The Rebirth and Beginning Of Modern Archery

Duration of the exhibition: May 27th, 2025 ~ September 14th, 2025
Location: Hwanghakjeong Korean Archery Gallery
Location tip: Located by Baehwa Women’s University
Price: Free
Learn more here

Its newly updated permanent exhibition highlights 120 years of archery culture, from Hwanghakjeong’s founding to the present day. Visitors can explore various historical artifacts that showcase the excellence and heritage of Korean archery.

4. Embroidery in Bloom

Duration of the exhibition: July 16th, 2024 ~ December 31th, 2025
Location: Seoul Museum of Craft Art
Location tip: Located in Insadong
Price: Free
Learn more here

Delve into the delicate artistry of Korean embroidery with this exhibition hosted by the Seoul Museum of Craft Art. “Embroidery in Bloom” features a curated selection of works from the collections of Huh DongHwa and Park YoungSook. The exhibition explores how embroidery can be viewed through the lens of painting, offering insight into the significance of the patterns and the techniques used in the art of embroidery. Visitors can admire the intricate craftsmanship and explore the cultural symbolism behind each piece.

5. Mountain Light

Duration of the exhibition: July 4th, 2025 ~ March 29th, 2026
Location: Ra Cafe Gallery
Location tip: Located by Gyeongbokgung palace
Price: Free
Learn more here

The exhibition highlights the quiet strength of mountains and the resilient lives of people who dwell within them. Through the stillness of the mountains, Park offers timeless comfort and invites viewers to reflect and discover a deeper version of themselves. The show runs until March 29, 2026, and is free to the public.

6. Kim Tschang-Yeul

Duration of the exhibition: August 22nd, 2025 ~ December 21st, 2025
Location: National Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art
Location tip: Located close to Gyeonbokgung palace
Price: Free
Learn more here

The exhibition highlights how Kim TschangYeul’s art, rooted in memories of trauma amid war and modernization, transformed into a unique visual language. By showcasing early works, rare archives, and diverse variations of the water drop, the exhibition reveals new dimensions of his practice while reaffirming his lasting contribution to Korean and global contemporary art.

7. Mirror Paintings; Material Imagination

Duration of the exhibition: August 20th, 2025 ~ September 9th, 2025
Location: Gallery Rho
Location tip: Located near Anguk station
Price: Free
Learn more here

This exhibition highlights how over the past decade, Lee Yeul has moved beyond the abstract painting he long pursued, expanding into “mirror paintings” and further into objects and installations. This shift in medium represents not just a formal experiment but also a deep inner necessity—an expression of the artist’s will to rediscover and reconfigure new meanings within what has been discarded or overlooked.

8. Reverently Painted Murals of Changdeokgung

Duration of the exhibition: August 14th, 2025 ~ October 12th, 2025
Location: National Palace Museum of Korea
Location tip: Located close to Gyeonbokgung palace
Price: Free
Learn more here

This special exhibition at the National Palace Museum presents six murals and one preparatory sketch that once adorned Heejeongdang, Daejojeon, and Gyeonghungak—living quarters of Emperor Sunjong and Empress Sunjeonghyo. These palatial halls, rebuilt after a 1917 fire, were decorated with large-scale murals painted by six artists in the traditional court style.

9. Unspoken Emotion

Duration of the exhibition: September 9th, 2025 ~ September 15th, 2026
Location: Milim Art Gallery
Location tip: Located by Jongno 3 Station Exit 5
Price: Free
Learn more here

This exhibition presents an exploration of the “figural landscape,” inspired by Gilles Deleuze’s aesthetics and Jean-François Lyotard’s notion of the figural—forms that emphasize presence and intensity rather than representation. Through drawing, large-scale canvases, triptychs, and immersive spatial arrangements, the artist captures the shifting flow of intensity, sensory transformation, and emotion between body, space, and canvas.

10. Almost There

Duration of the exhibition: July 15th, 2025 ~ September 28th, 2025
Location: Bukcheon Exhibition Hall
Location tip: Located by Gyeongbokgung palace
Price: Free
Learn more here

This exhibition reimagines “arrival” not as a conclusion, but as a fluid state of pause, imminence, and becoming. Featuring 11 artists working across painting, drawing, installation, video, performance, and sound, it unfolds in a relay format that experiments with repetition, return, and overlapping structures. In doing so, it explores the space-time before arrival and the transitional moments at its threshold—where unexpected rhythms and dynamic terrains may emerge from the traces left behind.