Cities value spectacular art projects and new museums for their ability to draw visitors and attention. For those reasons, in South Korea, the fate of the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee’s art collection was closely watched. On July 7, South Korea announced a budget exceeding KRW 100 billion (USD 88 million) for the construction of a new museum to house the 23,181 objects donated by Lee’s heirs. The museum, slated to open in 2027, will be located near the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in central Seoul—a decision many regional cities decried.

Tokyo amplified its Olympics festivities with art. The Tokyo Tokyo Festival featured pavilions designed by Japanese artists Yayoi Kusama and Makoto Aida, as well as six architects in the area of the National Stadium, while the Olympic Agora project sprawled across the historic Nihonbashi district with exhibitions including of Rinko Kawauchi’s photographs capturing communities affected by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. As the games were closing, Typhoon Lupit made landfall near Naoshima Island on August 9, dislodging Kusama’s Pumpkin (1994) sculpture from the Benesse Art Site and sending it into the sea, necessitating extensive repairs for the work.