How Festive Korea 2026 Connects Art, Food and Culture

Description

Chances are you’re already riding the Hallyu or Korean wave. Yes, we know, you’ve probably enjoyed, caught up or purchased one of these recently: K-pop, drama, beauty, food or film.

Returning for its 16th edition, Festive Korea 2026 continues to let you savour all things Korean, with over 30 programmes spanning art, film, music and food across Hong Kong.

One of this year’s standouts is Wash-in-Progress (2026 Korean Young Artists Series), a thought-provoking exhibition at the Korean Cultural Center in Hong Kong. Running from 12 November 2026 to 16 January 2027, it is curated by Kim Malgeum and assembles a range of mediums. Featured are Park Kideok’s abstract photographs, Lim Nosik’s distinctive landscape paintings blending traditional Korean painting techniques with modern layering methods, and videos by Yoon Jeewon exploring the unique sense of distance in East Asian imagery.

A special screening-in-progress programme from 13 to 14 November extends the conversation with video works by Park, Yoon, Yang Jihoon and Kayoung Choi, and provide insight into how young Korean artists engage with East Asian visual culture.

Alongside its art-related programme, the festival also brings the charm of K-culture to life with two flagship events. Korea Square 2026 (31 October–1 November) fills the PMQ Courtyard with more than 30 Korean and local brands, plus less commercial diversions including kimchi-making, K‑pop dance, K‑movie screenings and a masterclass with violinist Danny Koo. K‑Food Week 2026 (27 October–1 November), meanwhile, serves up The Taste of Korean Food and dessert workshops at the K‑Food Classroom of the Korean Cultural Center, plus a new family cooking programme for parents and children to explore Korean cuisine together.

Wrapping up the festival is contemporary artist Oh Haji’s Becoming Flowers. Held at CHAT from 14 November 2026 to 28 February 2027, Oh’s first Hong Kong solo exhibition closes Festive Korea 2026. The Zainichi Korean artist uses weaving, embroidery and dyeing to articulate diasporic memory, female resilience and communal healing, rooted in her identity journey and participatory workshops. Through costumes honouring her mother and grandmother and community-made works celebrating anonymous women, she reimagines textile craft as communal labour, with the flower motif symbolising cultural identity and strength amid displacement.

Whether a seasoned Hallyu fan or simply curious, Festive Korea 2026 allows you to go deeper — beyond the screen and into the stories, textures and distances that shape contemporary Korean culture.