UNSEEN at LUME Studios
Curated by Dr. Stephanie Seungmin Kim and designed by Pentagram, UNSEEN was the first international exhibition dedicated to North Korean women's lives and voices. The eight-day exhibition opened during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. A companion public awareness campaign placed portraits of North Korean women on billboards in Times Square and across 68 Manhattan newsstands. The exhibition featured fourteen international artists alongside video testimonies from North Korean escapees, and was hosted by a coalition of human rights organizations including Amnesty International, FIDH, Hanvoice, ICNK, CSW, and NKnet.
A coalition of six human rights organizations wanted to make the conditions facing North Korean women visible to an international audience. Amnesty International led, with FIDH, Hanvoice, ICNK, CSW, and NKnet alongside. The dates were set by the UN calendar. The exhibition had to run through the 80th session of the General Assembly, when diplomats, press, and advocacy organizations from around the world would already be in New York.
The brief was specific. Hold an eight day exhibition that could carry the work of fourteen international artists, video testimonies from North Korean escapees, the design language of Pentagram, and the messaging of six human rights organizations. Open it to the public daily, for free. Host a press preview, a curator panel, and evening receptions for the partner organizations. Run all of that out of a single venue in lower Manhattan, for eight days straight.
LUME ran the venue and the operations side of UNSEEN. The exhibition took over LUME at 393 Broadway in Tribeca from September 20 to 27, 2025.
The exhibition layout was designed by Pentagram's London team, led by partner Marina Willer and project lead Marta Gaspar. The red dot identity that ran on the Times Square billboards and across 68 Manhattan newsstand placements came inside, applied at scale to Mihaela Noroc's portraits of North Korean women. The same visual language carried through the room.
LUME held the eight day run end to end. The space opened to the public for free admission from noon to 8 PM every day, which meant continuous on site production, security, and visitor flow management. Video testimonies from North Korean escapees played on synchronized audio stations throughout the room. Programming included a press preview timed to the UNGA news cycle, a panel discussion with curator Dr. Stephanie Seungmin Kim, and evening receptions for the supporting human rights organizations. LUME's in house team handled the load in and load out of fourteen artists' work, the technical infrastructure for the testimony installations, and the day to day operations of running an internationally covered exhibition without a break in the program.
UNSEEN became one of the most internationally covered moments LUME has hosted. Coverage ran on Pentagram's own portfolio, in the Asian American Arts Alliance, Tribeca Citizen, EnVi Media, and across the press distribution from the human rights consortium. The Times Square billboards and the 68 Manhattan newsstand placements drove pedestrian traffic into the exhibition through the run. LUME was named directly in nearly every piece of editorial coverage.
Because the exhibition ran during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, diplomats, journalists, and advocacy organizations from across the world walked through 393 Broadway that week. That level of international foot traffic is rare for any NYC venue, period.
For LUME, hosting the first international exhibition on North Korean women's rights changed how the venue gets considered for serious cultural work. UNSEEN is the case study to reference when a gallery, foundation, or advocacy organization is weighing LUME for politically or culturally significant work.
LUME Studios is a brand activation agency and event production company at 393 Broadway, New York.
Photo + video
LUME covers events with photo and video from one team: same-day selects for social, a full edited gallery after, and recap films cut for where they will be posted. At 393 Broadway or at your venue.
Tell us the goal, the guest count, and where it needs to happen. We reply within one business day with the right venue or production path.
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