Kimsooja was honoured with the Lucas Art Award, presented by the Lucas van Leyden Fund, in 2020. Now, Leiden’s old town inaugurates the Korean artist’s installation ‘To Breathe: Leiden’ on 18 November.
‘To Breathe: Leiden’ consists of arches over the water, acting as a thread to connect, through light, both sides of the canal, creating circles in the reflection of the water. This is the core of Kimsooja’s artistic expression: the concepts of sewing and weaving, a cyclical movement that represents a central connection between people and cultures, past and future, old and new, East and West. The installation symbolises the connection of art and science, a value that defines the city of Leiden in its history and its current title of European City of Science in 2022.