Overview
- Contemporary artist Kimsooja was officially promoted to the rank of Officier on July 9 at the French ambassador’s residence in Seoul.
- The Officer rank is the second-highest of the order’s three tiers and recognizes her sustained contributions to arts and cultural exchange.
- This accolade marks her second French decoration after being named a chevalier in 2017.
- Known as the “Bottari artist,” Kimsooja uses traditional Korean cloth bundles in conceptual installations to explore memory, identity and migration.
- Her relationship with France began in 1984 with an École des Beaux-Arts scholarship and includes a 2024 carte blanche exhibition at Paris’s Bourse de Commerce.