Yewon Kim is a London-based curator and researcher with over a decade of experience delivering major international exhibitions across Europe, Asia, and North America. In 2024, she was recognised as one of Art in Culture’s “Global Korean Power: 31 New Faces,” a distinction highlighting her contributions to international contemporary art discourse.

Trained in architecture (RIBA Part I), her practice approaches exhibitions as spatial and embodied encounters, shaped by how people move, dwell, and attend within them. As the founder of DAA, an independent curatorial research platform, Yewon explores intersections between art, science, and architecture, fostering dialogue and spatial thinking among practitioners working across the creative fields.

A frequent contributor to global art discourse, she lectures on curatorial practice in higher education. Her writing and research have been featured in Art in Culture, ArtNow, and The Korea Economic Daily (ARTE).

CV available upon request

Curatorial Ethos | Embodied, Spatial, Lived

My curatorial practice explores how exhibitions shape the way people encounter and understand art. With a background in architecture (RIBA Part I), I approach exhibitions as spatial environments experienced through movement, attention and atmosphere. I am interested in how thoughtful exhibition design can create conditions that encourage slower looking, reflection and meaningful engagement with artistic ideas.

I believe exhibitions should not simply present artworks but create environments that welcome diverse audiences and support curiosity, conversation and learning. My approach therefore focuses on developing exhibitions that are both intellectually rigorous and accessible, ensuring that complex artistic practices can be encountered in ways that feel open, engaging and relevant to the public.

Practice & Projects

Over more than a decade of professional experience at an international gallery, I have coordinated and overseen the development and delivery of major international exhibitions, acting as a bridge between artists, studios, production teams and institutions. This work has involved managing complex exhibition timelines, supporting curatorial research and translating artistic ideas into coherent exhibition environments.

Through long-term collaboration with artists, studios and foundations, I have developed particular expertise in working closely with artists to realise exhibitions that respond carefully to space, materials and audience experience.

Alongside my institutional work, I founded DAA, an independent interdisciplinary platform that supports curatorial research and dialogue between art, architecture and other fields. Through DAA, I develop conversations, writing and small-scale curated shows exploring how exhibitions function as spaces for encounter and reflection.

Most recently, DAA contributed to a salon-style forum marking ten years since the passing of Dame Zaha Hadid. Bringing together architects, artists and curators, the programme explored questions of spatial authorship and the interconnected relationships between contemporary art and architectural practice.

Writing & Research

My research interests focus on how exhibitions function as environments for attention, reflection and learning. With a background in architecture (RIBA Part I) before specialising in contemporary art, I approach exhibitions as spatial and social environments that shape how audiences experience and understand artistic ideas.

I am particularly interested in interdisciplinary dialogue between art, architecture and scientific inquiry, and in how cultural programmes can encourage new ways of thinking about our relationship with the natural world, technology and wider social conditions.

Alongside my curatorial work, I contribute to public discourse through guest lectures at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and writing for publications including Art in Culture, ArtNow and The Korea Economic Daily.

Media & Recognition

  • 2024 — Global Korean Power | 31 New Faces, Art in Culture
    Recognised for contributions to international contemporary art discourse.

  • 2024 — Invited Panelist, 7th TIAMSA Conference (The International Art Market Studies Association), the University of Melbourne.

    Discussion focused on the global positioning and structural development of the South Korean contemporary art market.