South Korea presents fascinating home decor in a new exhibition

South Korea presents fascinating home decor in a new exhibition

It's an unusual experience to enter one building only to find another inside. Therefore, it takes a moment to adjust when entering the second floor of London's prestigious Tate Modern. Just outside the entrance stands a full-scale replica of Do Ho Suh's childhood home in Seoul, which he wrapped in mulberry paper and carefully traced in graphite to create a detailed likeness of the exterior. This work is just one of many home ideas the Korean artist has created over the past 30 years.

The “Walk the House” exhibition

The Walk the House exhibition runs at Tate Modern until October and is Suh's largest solo exhibition at an institution to date in the UK, where he has lived since 2016. He previously lived in the United States after studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and Yale University in the 1990s.

The concept behind “Walk the House”

The title of the exhibition comes from an expression used in the context of “ hanok ", a traditional Korean house. These houses, due to their construction and lightweight materials, can be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere. Over time, they have become rarer due to urbanization, wars and occupations that led to the destruction of many traditional homes in the country.

The Childhood of Do Ho Suh

Suh's own childhood home was an outlier amid Seoul's changing urban landscape in the 1970s, which developed rapidly after the Korean War as the city lay in ruins. This experience has shaped the artist's ongoing thoughts about home, both as a physical space that can be dissolved and revived, and as a psychological construct that reflects memory and identity.

Diverse exhibition elements

The exhibits include embroidered works of art, architectural models in various materials and scales, and film works using complex 3D techniques. The detailed outlines captured in Suh's hanok rubbing can be found in two closely related large-scale works, which are being shown for the first time and into which visitors can enter. “Perfect Home: London, Horsham, New York, Berlin, Providence, Seoul” (2024) combines various 3D furnishings from the apartments Suh has lived in around the world and projects them onto a tent-like model of his London apartment. “Nest/s” (2024) is a pastel-colored tunnel, again based on various places Suh has called home, connecting incongruent hallways—an environment that has symbolic meaning for the artist.

Looking for transitional spaces

"I think that the experience of cultural alienation has helped me see these in-between spaces, the space that connects places. This journey allows me to focus on transitional spaces, such as hallways, staircases and entrances," Suh ​​explained in the opening interview with CNN. The exhibition also features “Staircase” (2016), a 3D structure that later collapsed into a red, curved 2D mesh. "In general, we often focus on the goals, but we often neglect these bridges that connect these goals. Yet we spend most of our time in this transitional stage," Suh ​​added.

Transparent artwork

A common feature of the works on display is their transparent quality. Fine, sheer textiles are used directly in many of the pieces, including in the form of a subtle room divider – the closest thing one could come to defining an internal wall in the main area. “For the first time since 2016, the exhibition's galleries will have all their walls demolished to make room for the numerous large-scale works realized within them, as well as the different times and spaces that these works entail,” explained Dina Akhmadeeva, assistant curator of international art at Tate Modern, who curated the exhibition together with Nabila Abdel Nabi, senior curator of international art at Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational.

Exposure of spaces and memories

The removal of the walls also reflects Suh's interest in stripping environments back to their foundations. "It's just the bare space that the architects originally intended," he said. Suh's work often focuses on spatial experiences rather than material goods because, like the rooms and buildings we inhabit, an empty space functions as a "container" for memories. “As the years go by and the time you spend in the room, you project your own experiences and energy onto it, and then it becomes a memory.”

Provisionality in art

The artist also occasionally focuses on ornament and furniture, as in his monumental film Robin Hood Gardens, named after the East London neighborhood of the same name, which uses photogrammetry to stitch together drone footage of the City Hall awaiting demolition. This represents a rare case in which Suh documents both the residents and their possessions. The film illustrates the subtle political aspects of Suh's practice. “Often the color, craftsmanship and beauty of my work distract from the political undertones,” he said. Issues of privacy, security and access to space are closely linked to class and public policy, but his commentary is hidden in a soft veil of fabric or the gentle pressure of graphite.

Socio-political issues and personal spaces

The exhibition is framed by works that address socio-political issues. “Bridge Project” (1999) explores land ownership issues, among other issues, while “Public Figures” (2025), an evolution of a piece Suh created for the 2001 Venice Biennale, features a toppled monument with an empty base, drawing focus to the many miniature figures that support it. For Suh, it should address Korea's history of oppression and resistance. While these two exhibitions may seem different, all of his works question the boundaries between personal and public space and the conditions that enforce ephemerality or enable permanence.

A reflective look at home

Tensions between public and private space have been particularly evident during the pandemic, when lockdowns have forced people to spend most of their time indoors. Although Suh “examined every corner of his home” during this time, the lockdowns were not reflected in his practice as one might expect. Instead, it brought a more tender reflection on what often defines the home: the people. This explains why, among the significant and often colorful structures in the exhibition, are two small tunics for (and with) his two young daughters, complete with pockets containing their favorite items, such as crayons and toys.

"As a parent, it was a pretty vulnerable situation. For other families, I can't speak for them, but it really helped us being together," Suh ​​said.