Go crazy with the lights at Gwanghwamun this year-end! 2025 Seoul Light Gwanghwamun opens on the 12th.

Bono Ahn
Dec 9
7 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

- A large-scale media art festival will take place around Gwanghwamun Square for 24 days, from December 12, 2025 (Fri) to January 4, 2026 (Sun).

- Renowned media artist Doug Aitken and other international creators will present innovative media façade exhibitions throughout the event.

- The exhibition will feature Fortune.exe, a luminous pathway crossing Gwanghwamun Square, and the Sejong Pavilion, both transformed into mesmerizing spaces of light and media art.

- A spectacular New Year’s countdown event will be held, accompanied by a synchronized media art performance broadcast across the entire Gwanghwamun area.

This winter, Gwanghwamun Square will be awash in light. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that "2025 Seoul Light Gwanghwamun," a massive media façade exhibition, will be held at Gwanghwamun Square for 24 days, starting with an opening ceremony on Friday, December 12th, and continuing until Sunday, January 4th of next year.
Seoul Light Gwanghwamun, held for the fourth time this year, is themed 'Gwanghwa, Breathe with Light' and will feature a variety of attractions including the Gwanghwamun Media Facade Exhibition, Fortune.exe Light Sculpture, and Sejong Pavilion Media Art, with 16 artists participating. A 2026 New Year's countdown event will also be held.
- Jinhee Choi, who served as artistic director for the Cultural Station Seoul 284 100th Anniversary Planning Exhibition (2025), will participate as art director.

Gwanghwamun Media Facade Exhibition Featuring World-Class Artists

Gwanghwamun Media Facade Exhibition, Participation of World-Class Artists The media façade exhibition features renowned domestic and international artists, including Doug Aitken, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, a master of world media art, TZUSOO, Aplan Company, and The First Gate. The exhibition will run for 8-9 sessions, each lasting 24 minutes, and will also feature an interactive program where citizens can start by striking a drum.

Doug Aitken's work expresses the rhythm and emotions of the city through the rhythm and blues pop song 'I Only Have Eyes for You'. is presented.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Series participant Chusoo connects tradition and modernity through <Are YouSleeping?>, a delightful work in which the sun and moon exchange text messages.
Also on display are A Plan Company's <Feast of Lights>, which expresses the new landscape of Gwanghwamun and the energy of Seoul through laser drawing performance, and The First Gate's <Gesture Pop!>, which combines sign language gestures with the message, "The hope and future of Seoul is people" to express participation, inclusion, and communal resonance.

A media art exhibition combining tradition and modernity and citizen participation will be held at Gwanghwamun Square.

In the plaza that runs from the north side of the Statue of King Sejong to Gwanghwamun, a 26-meter-tall giant light sculpture reinterpreting the world-famous Ilwolobongdo and traditional Korean Dancheong architecture through Kedeheon, as well as <Fortune.exe>, a colorful lighting work that combines light and music, will be installed.

<Fortune.exe> is a reinterpretation of the structural beauty of the traditional Dancheong of Ilwolobongdo, and consists of Everyware's <Triangle, Square Square Square> work, in which light changes on windows and doors, and <A Night When Hope Blooms>, a lighting art work that combines a splendid laser and light show and immersive sound.
Additionally, a citizen participation program called <Ilwol Obongdo Wish Wall> will be operated, where citizens will complete the work by placing their wish tiles for 2026.

Additionally, the <Sejong Pavilion>, an LED media screen, will be installed right in front of the north side of the statue of King Sejong, where works by six invited domestic and international artists and five artists selected through an international competition will be displayed, and citizens will participate together to select the best work.
- <Sejong Pavilion> is a three-dimensional digital stage composed of a 10-meter wide and 6-meter tall LED wall and a 6-meter floor LED.
- The six invited artists, Joel Mesler, Moon Hyun-seok, Kim Young-tae, Yeorae, Je Woo-jin, and Hwang Yu-geun, will present works that reinterpret light and the city. The works of five artists who entered the contest and whose winning works were selected through expert evaluation and public voting will also be exhibited.

New Year's Countdown Event with Public-Private Organizations in the Gwanghwamun Free Zone

At midnight on December 31st, a countdown event will be held in collaboration with public and private organizations in the Gwanghwamun Free Zone to welcome the New Year 2026, the Year of the Red Horse. This event will offer a special experience as you welcome Seoul's first day in the vibrant and historic space of Gwanghwamun.
- Nine institutions, including Gwanghwamun, Sejong Pavilion, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, Seoul Shinmun, KT building, Ilmin Museum of Art, Dong-A Ilbo, Koreana Hotel, and Seongwang Building, will participate in the countdown, which will simultaneously broadcast the New Year's countdown and display media art to welcome the New Year on outdoor electronic billboards.
- Additionally, the countdown event will continue with the Hanbok fashion show <Gwanghwamun Fashion Road> and the Light Dance performance from 11 PM to midnight.
Detailed information about the '2025 Seoul Light Gwanghwamun' event can be found on the official website ( www.seoullightgwanghwamun.com ) and Instagram (@mediaartseoul).
Meanwhile, as the city of Seoul anticipates that a large crowd will flock to the site during the event, it will deploy safety management personnel along the main route of the artwork and work closely with related organizations such as fire stations, police stations, and nearby hospitals to ensure safety in case of any safety accidents.
- We will concentrate our security personnel in crowded areas such as the Gwanghwamun Media Facade viewing area and crosswalks, secure access routes for fire and emergency vehicles, and operate a comprehensive security system to thoroughly prepare for emergencies.
Choi In-gyu, Design Policy Officer for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “The 2025 Seoul Light Gwanghwamun event will combine cutting-edge media technology with world-class content to provide citizens and tourists with a special experience of ending the year and welcoming the new year with light and music.”

2025 Seoul Light Gwanghwamun Works Introduction

Gwanghwamun Media Facade Show: 4 works (24 minutes total)

Feast of Lights, aplan-company, 7 minutes

Introduction: This multi-faceted media façade interprets the rhythms and emotions of the city through a new language of light. It captures the process by which the landscape of Gwanghwa breathes again with connection and energy amidst the spreading flow of light. It illuminates the daily life and relationships that remain connected like a patchwork quilt even in a fragmented era, and embodies the meaning of connecting the city, people, and technology.

, Doug Aitken (USA), 5 minutes

Introduction: This media facade reinterprets Gwanghwamun as an "architecture of light and sound." Light and music flow organically, illuminating the city's rhythms and emotions and transforming the space into a living screen. Accompanied by the classic pop song "I Only Have Eyes for You," the work aims to convey the emotions of love and connection through light.

Are You Sleeping?, TZUSOO (Korea), 5 minutes

Introduction: This work digitally interprets the mystical scene of the sun and moon exchanging messages on Ilwolobongdo Island. The sun, moon, pine trees, and water come alive in light and color, infusing traditional symbols with fairytale-like imagination. This playful and experimental reinterpretation of traditional imagery injects a youthful and modern energy into Gwanghwamun.

Gesture Pop! Gesture Pop! The First Gate

Gesture Pop!, THE FIRST GATE, 7 minutes

Introduction: Under the message, "Seoul's hope and future are people," the piece centers around the concept of "hands," symbolizing creation, communication, and solidarity. It demonstrates the power of small gestures to shape a city, conveying the message of participation and inclusion. The finale concludes with a festive moment where the audience can enjoy themselves together and welcome the new year with hope.

Fortune.exe: 2 works

Triangle, square, square, everywhere EVERYWAR

<△, □□□ (triangle, square square square)>, EVERYWARE

Introduction: This light sculpture reinterprets the symbolism of the Ilwolobongdo (Ilwo Obongdo) and the structural beauty of traditional Korean Dancheong architecture. It expands the rhythm of Dancheong's columns, beams, and gongbu (portable walls) into modern tile modules, revealing a new spatial beauty of traditional architecture through variations in color and light. The vibrant hues and changing lighting create a visual rhythm, naturally overlapping traditional and modern sensibilities over time. This innovative light sculpture utilizes recycled tiles, producing no waste.

<희망이 피어나는 밤 (Blooming Promise)>

Lighting: Aplan Company A-Lab (aplan-company / a-lab)

Sound Design: Dong-wook Lim (CONAN) / Su-yong Lee

Introduction: This lighting art piece unfolds a diffusing laser beam, spreading light waves throughout the space, accompanied by immersive sound. The radiating lines of light and three-dimensional sound resonate, transforming the space into a single, rhythmic and atmospheric space. The audience encounters a new sensory experience as their senses intersect.

Sejong Pavilion: 6 works (23 minutes total)

Joel Mesler (USA), 3 minutes

Introduction: This winter story media façade work from Joel Mesler's solo exhibition "Paradise Found" conveys healing and vitality through bold colors, tropical patterns, and positive typography that blend with the light of Gwanghwamun.

<Light Waves, Living Breath>,

ZEUS (Jewoojin), 2 minutes

Introduction: Within the "digital sea," colorful shapes and two "beta shapes" intertwine to express the flow of life. This work evokes a sense of inner vitality through light and movement.

<JeGuPoShin: The Life of Renewal>,

HwaYoo (Hwang Yu-geun), 2 minutes

Introduction: This work depicts a woman in pure white releasing memories and emotions through dance. The flowing trajectory of the cloth symbolizes emotional liberation and a new beginning.

<풍선 (Balloons)>

Krycek (Moon Hyun-seok), 2 minutes

Introduction: This work visualizes the flow of emotions through floating balloons. The movement of them colliding and scattering creates a change in emotions and a playful atmosphere.

A Day in Pieces,

YRAPIC (Tathagata), 2 minutes

Introduction: Unpredictable moments enrich your day.

This work carries the message of creation. Fragments of variables and emotions, like a collage, create new meaning.

<Dreams of the Silver Fish>,

LabOE (Kim Young-tae), 2 minutes

- Introduction: This work expresses diversity and vitality through the movement of silverfish, which change color with their silver bodies. The scene of numerous silverfish swimming in a school symbolizes coexistence and dynamism.

※ The works of five artists selected through an international competition will also be screened (10 minutes).

2024 Seoul Light Gwanghwamun Event Photos

Gwanghwamun Media Facade