Kader Attia - Irreparable Repairs opens at Lehmann Maupin Seoul
Published on 08/27/2026 at 16:12 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Kader Attia presents his first solo exhibition in Seoul with Irreparable Repairs at Lehmann Maupin. As the gallery announces, the show opens with an evening reception on August 28, 2026, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM and runs through October 17, 2026. Lehmann Maupin exhibition page
The solo show in Seoul
Irreparable Repairs unfolds at Lehmann Maupin's gallery at 213 Itaewon-ro in Seoul, marking Attia's first solo presentation in South Korea. The gallery frames the exhibition as an expansion of his core concept of repair, now interwoven with ideas of fragmentation, gathering, shamanism and mysticism.
The exhibition brings together new sculptures, installations and film works that examine how mnemonic traces shape individual and collective consciousness. Canvas works from Attia's longstanding Mirrors series appear alongside new pieces, situating the show within a broader trajectory of his engagement with postcolonial trauma and material repair.
Opening program and wider context
On August 28, 2026, the gallery hosts a public conversation between Kader Attia and art educator Soyoung Lee from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, immediately preceding the opening reception. This program underscores the exhibition's emphasis on education and dialogue around history, memory and repair.
The Seoul show follows Attia's recent institutional and biennial engagements, including his installation Whisper of Traces within In Minor Keys at the 61st Venice Biennale, on view from May 9 to November 22, 2026. It also resonates with new commissioned works such as Untitled (Janus) and Fetishization in the exhibition Tirailleurs at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin.
All news and background on Kader Attia
For further reporting on Kader Attia's exhibitions, commissions and biennial appearances, the AD HOC NEWS archive offers an overview of recent developments and contextual analysis.
The work core in Irreparable Repairs
In Irreparable Repairs, Attia revisits his notion that every act of repair leaves a visible scar, transforming damage into a record of history rather than erasing it. The Mirrors canvases, with stitched and patched surfaces, make this principle tangible in two-dimensional form.
Sculptural works in the show extend this thinking into space, combining found materials and crafted elements that recall ritual objects, modernist forms and technical apparatus. The installation language echoes earlier projects where Attia staged encounters between museum display systems and objects marked by colonial histories.
Where the artist stands now
Kader Attia's next confirmed date within the current window is the opening reception of Irreparable Repairs at Lehmann Maupin Seoul on August 28, 2026, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
Key facts on Kader Attia
- Artist: Kader Attia
- Medium / Genre: Installation, sculpture, mixed-media practice
- Born: 1970, Dugny, France
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between Paris and Berlin
- Active since: Early 2000s, with increasing institutional visibility over the past two decades
- Key work groups: Mirrors, Repair installations, Whisper of Traces, architectural interventions around museum display
- Current/last exhibition: Irreparable Repairs, Lehmann Maupin Seoul, August 28 to October 17, 2026
- Major collections: Louvre (guest artist project), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), holdings in major European public collections
- Awards: Curatorial appointment as artistic director of the 7th Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2027-2028, announced in May 2026
- Next date: August 28, 2026, opening reception of Irreparable Repairs at Lehmann Maupin Seoul
Frequently asked questions about Kader Attia
Where is Kader Attia currently on view?
Attia's new solo exhibition Irreparable Repairs opens at Lehmann Maupin Seoul on August 28, 2026, and runs through October 17, 2026. In parallel, his installation Whisper of Traces remains on view in In Minor Keys at the 61st Venice Biennale.
What defines the exhibition Irreparable Repairs in Seoul?
The show presents new sculptures, installations, film and canvas works that deepen Attia's investigation of repair, fragmentation and gathering, with a particular emphasis on shamanism, mysticism and mnemonic traces, as detailed by Lehmann Maupin.
Which upcoming public program accompanies Irreparable Repairs?
On August 28, 2026, Lehmann Maupin hosts a public conversation between Kader Attia and art educator Soyoung Lee from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, followed by the opening reception from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Seoul gallery.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
