¡°Indie art spaces¡± are places for independent art. So, what exactly is ¡°independent art?¡± The definition of independent art can be guided by the answer to the question, ¡°What did it become independent from?¡± Indie art means, ¡°independence from capital,¡± and it refers to art produced on an economic basis without the use of large sums of money from the government or local government subsidies.

If so, the ¡°indie art space¡± can also be described as a space free from big capital and subsidies from large corporations. Indie artists can freely express their artistic intentions and present their works in this space.

Furthermore, indie art spaces are living spaces for an artistic network connecting indie artists and audiences. Experimental works or stages are created in this space through collaboration between artistic fields, as well as through free communication between artists and audiences.

Here are three indie art spaces that are virtual treasure troves for indie artists and indie art fans.

A Home for Cinephiles: Seoul Art Cinema

The first space is the Seoul Art Cinema located on Jongno 3-ga. Run by the Korea Cinematheque Council, Seoul Art Cinema is the only private non-profit cinema in Seoul. Since 2002, it has screened more than 500 retrospectives, special exhibitions, independent films and experimental films every year.

This is the home of cinephiles, as well as a valuable educational and cultural resource for aspiring filmmakers. In fact, directors Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho and Ryoo Seung-wan once revealed that they watched movies here day and night, and that they stepped in to help whenever Seoul Art Cinema was in crisis due to financial difficulties.

Seoul Art Cinema has an impressively solid program that introduces art films by both respected masters and rising young directors. In addition, every July, the summer vacation season, it hosts activities for cinephiles such as ¡®Cine-Vacation Seoul,¡¯ which introduces selected programs carefully that are difficult to access at Korean movie theaters.

Ticket booth of Seoul Art Cinema.

TYPE, an Intersection of Various Indie Arts

TYPE is a platform for artists, planners and researchers in the field of visual and performance to communicate and conduct various art experiments.

It¡¯s worth noting that you can see selected exhibitions of mid-sized artists in the field of visual arts, performances and other various art field exhibitions, and it¡¯s also interesting to see sophisticated design products like furniture, fashion and cafes mingled in with pure art genres.

TYPE has hosted many sophisticated exhibitions of visual art, dance, design and other genres, including Kwon Oh-sang¡¯s 2021 solo exhibition ¡°Sequence of Sculpture¡± and Jin Dalrae and Park Woo-hyuk¡¯s ¡°Water Garlic Onion Milk Fruit.¡±

Seoul Art Cinema screens many films that ordinary theaters cannot.

The Scene of Artistic Experiments, OB/SCENE

OB/SCENE is a recently opened space. OB/SCENE¡¯s motto is ¡°out of, away from/the scene.¡± It holds indie performances, exhibitions, screenings and debates through art space networks.

If you like experimental arts spaces, this is the venue for you. In particular, the OB/SCENE Festival, which takes place every autumn, consists of small and experimental performances by international choreographers and in-country artists.

The Fruit of Indie Art Spaces

Indie art spaces suffer from a low survival rate. The market makes it very difficult to run arts spaces without a clear profit model. For example, more than half of the 46 indie art spaces introduced in the book ¡°Seoul Indie Art Spaces,¡± published in 2016, have closed down.

However, many people are still struggling to protect indie art spaces. This is because indie art spaces, where the artist¡¯s creative intention can be fully expressed, represent the future of art.

TYPE hosted Kwon Oh-sang¡¯s 2021 solo exhibition ¡°Sequence of Sculpture.¡±