Art Center Nabi to reopen in new home after legal battle with SK Group

After a court decision forced the Art Center Nabi out of the SK Group headquarters, its home for over two decades, Korea's first media art institution — led by Roh Soh-yeong, the former wife of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won — is starting over on its own terms.

The center announced on Wednesday that it will reopen in a building in Jongno District, central Seoul, on June 12, with a solo exhibition by kinetic sculpture installation artist Han Jin-su. The exhibition, titled “A Pregnant Pause,” is set to run through Aug. 1.

“The exhibition marks a fresh start [for the Art Center Nabi] in an independent environment in which the entire building operates as a museum space,” the institution said. “From this base, we aim to leap forward as a future cultural arts platform through which technology and nature, art and urban environment intersect.”

Roh added, “This moment — closing one chapter that spans 26 years and starting anew — is a time when the next chapter, not yet fully revealed, grows from within itself. The vitality found in the work of artist Han Jin-su, who has long explored the slow fermentation between machine and nature, is a [concept] that resonates most deeply with this reopening.”

The Art Center Nabi is the successor to the Walkerhill Museum of Art, overseen by Chey's mother. In December 2000, the museum relocated to the SK Group headquarters in Jongno District, central Seoul, and was renamed the Art Center Nabi. The center hosted art exhibitions, research programs, public events and international collaborative projects that explored the intersection of contemporary art, science and technology.

The move to a new location follows a legal dispute that arose during the divorce proceedings between Roh and Chey. SK Innovation, which manages the SK Group headquarters, filed a lawsuit in 2023, alleging that the Art Center Nabi had continued to occupy the premises without authorization after its lease expired in September 2019. In 2024, a court ruled that the center must vacate the property and pay SK Innovation approximately 1.045 billion won ($688,000), not including delay damages. 

The center chose not to appeal and relocated.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KWON KEUN-YOUNG [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]