2026 Seomjingang International Experimental Art Festival (SIEAF)

The 2026 Seomjingang International Experimental Art Festival is an international experimental arts festival staged in the natural and everyday spaces of Gokseong, Jeonnam, including the Seomjingang River, Daehwanggang River, forests, rice paddies, and gardens. Its main programs comprise an archive exhibition, the SIEAF Colloquium, a Rice-Paddy-Ridge Fashion Show, the opening program “WITH Dokkaebi & Toad,” a movement-healing workshop, an Oxygen Concert, and a Flower Parade. The SIEAF Archive Exhibition is a conceptual exhibition using various records from the 2025 Seomjingang International Experimental Art Festival and objects related to rural life. It is a preparatory program created with local residents to welcome the 2026 SIEAF. The SIEAF Colloquium is a discourse program held at the Bitmaru Center, featuring presentations and discussions on topics such as the history and folklore of the Seomjingang River, the role of leaders in rural communities, and the creation of glocal rural culture through art. The Gokseong Cultural Center, researchers specializing in rural communities, local activists, and arts professionals participate in open-format discussions seeking mutually beneficial coexistence between a rural utopia and an art utopia. The Rice-Paddy-Ridge Fashion Show is a rural-friendly program that uses rice-paddy ridges as a stage during the season when the rice ripens. It presents clothing made with natural materials and outfits inspired by local agricultural specialties, and consists of a fashion show and performances involving local residents, children, senior models, artists, and local arts and cultural organizations. The opening program “WITH Dokkaebi & Toad” is a performance program held at Amnok Recreation Area, where the Seomjingang and Daehwanggang rivers meet. Based on the dokkaebi folklore passed down in Gokseong and imagery of toads, it includes rituals for life and dokkaebi, media art, world music, dance, butoh, traditional Korean music, percussion, vocal music, installation art, and drone performances. Dokkaebi rice gathered through residents’ participation is made into liquor and rice cakes and shared by artists, residents, and visitors, leading into a contemporary artistic ritual performance expressing gratitude for the harvest and wishing for the residents’ well-being. The Oxygen Concert and movement-healing workshop are meditation and healing concerts held in the old forest of Okgwa. The movement-healing workshop comprises warming up the body, observing the body, movements involving contact with nature, movements for finding one’s own rhythm, and a dance of connection. The Oxygen Concert consists of programs with an ecological orientation that combine the forest’s natural acoustics with acoustic performances, singing bowls, vocal music, bara dance, performance art, meditation, and installation art, offering time to resonate as part of nature. The Flower Parade is an art-parade program at the Seomjingang Fairy-Tale Garden in which artists, residents, local clubs, and visitors participate together. Alongside processions and performances using costumes and props, flower-themed activities and workshops are held, while programs featuring installation art, music, dance, juggling, harmonica, and singing bowls welcome the audience.