This year’s Blossom the Hope event at Coex, which ran from May 2-8, welcomed visitors with a refreshing flurry of art, music, and performance to celebrate the long-awaited loosening of pandemic restrictions and bring on bright hope for the future. The Coex organized festival was spread out all along the first floor of the convention center, from Coex’s East Gate all the way to Hall B, and engaged both congress attendees and other visitors with a wide variety of art, music, floral arrangements, and installations to provide joy and relaxation to all. Coex creatively utilized each of the spaces to maximize their visibility and seamlessly blend with the large congress concurrently taking place.
Blossom the Hope ran alongside the XV World Forestry Congress, which drew 15,000 participants from 146 countries around the world. As the congress was held under the theme “Building a Green, Healthy and Resilient Future with Forests,” Coex’s Blossom the Hope event was similarly themed as “For:rest”, and focused on providing spaces of calm, relaxation, and inspiration.
Congress attendees and Coex visitors alike were treated to a multitude of installations and events, including a floral display by 2015 Interflora World Cup Champion Alex Choi, an art exhibit by Louis Wain, large statues of animations by artist Mr. Donothing, live musical performances under the theme ‘Open Rehearsal’, and a forest-themed photo zone called ‘Cup of Therapy’. A highlight of the festival was the ‘Big Picture in For:rest’ exhibition, which included artwork by Lay Village and 16 other artists that were displayed in print, 8K digital video, and even live performance – with some of the artwork to be offered with digital NFT versions in the future.
Central to Coex’s vision for the event was to transform daily, frequented spaces into experiential zones blossoming with art and inspiration. Deputy Director of Coex’s Space Marketing Team Ms. In Hee Lee stated, “As event planners, one of the things that are really fulfilling is when we can deliver hope and happiness through an event. So we think a lot about what we can do to convey these feelings in attendees.”
She also stated, “We are very excited about how the event turned out! Even though people were wearing masks covering their faces, we could see through their eyes and expressions that happiness that we strive for.”
Blossom The Hope is one of many festivals organized in-house by Coex, which has its own teams for the planning, organizing, and execution of large-scale events. Contact Coex for more information about planning your next event in Seoul.
