The 2025 Hangeul International Pre-Biennale will be held in Sejong City from September 1 to October 12, transforming the historic Jochiwon town into a vibrant platform for linguistic artistry inspired by the Korean alphabet, Hangeul. As a prelude to the first Hangeul Biennale scheduled for 2027, the event blends modern art with cultural heritage to explore Hangeul’s beauty and meaning. 

Organized by Sejong City and the Sejong Foundation for Culture and Tourism, the Pre-Biennale spans six historic venues and features 39 artists from Korea, the UK, Uruguay, and Singapore. Under the theme ‘Drawing Words, Connecting Lives,’ visitors can experience installations, media art, VR/AR works, and live performances. A major highlight is British artist Mr. Doodle’s largest live drawing outside the UK, displayed at the Jochiwon 1927 Art Center. The event aims to breathe new life into Sejong’s urban identity while showing how alphabets can become powerful forms of art.

Sam Cox, best known as Mr Doodle, is a contemporary artist from England, UK, whose work has gained international recognition. He is famous for covering almost any surface with his energetic doodles; from canvases and gallery walls to clothing, cars, and even his own home, covering them with monochromatic, squiggly characters, objects, and patterns. His signature “graffiti spaghetti” style is instantly recognizable, with playful figures and shapes flowing seamlessly into one another. For Mr Doodle, drawing is pure joy; he spends hours immersed in doodling, often losing track of time as his creations come to life. He currently lives in his fully decorated ‘Doodle House’ with his wife Alena (Mrs Doodle), their son, Baby Doodle, and their pet, Doodle Dog.

He has partnered with global brands such as Puma, Fendi, Converse, Samsung, and MTV, bringing his playful doodle aesthetic into fashion and lifestyle culture. His large-scale murals can be found in cities including Bristol, London, New York, Brussels, and Dubai. In 2024, he marked the 50th anniversary of the Kent & East Sussex Railway by covering an entire train carriage in his signature doodles. Over the years, Mr Doodle’s work has been featured in a range of international exhibitions; from “Mr Doodle! Museum Mayhem” at the Holburne Museum in Bath (2024) to “Mr Doodle in Love” at Shanghai’s chi K11 Art Museum (2022), and “Doodle World” at the ARA Art Center in Seoul (2018), among others.

Currently in Korea, he is experimenting with hanji, traditional handmade mulberry paper, and reimagining Hangeul characters through his doodle style as part of the Hangeul International Pre-Biennale in Sejong. 

The following are excerpts from an email interview with him on Sept 4-16, in which he discusses his work for the Hangeul International Pre-Biennale.

What led to your participation in the Hangeul International Pre-Biennale?

I have always loved how Hangeul looks ever since my first experience seeing it in Seoul in 2018, in the form of advertisements in busy streets, on signs, and shop fronts. As someone from outside Korea, I’ve always found Hangeul aesthetically captivating, and to create a body of work informed and inspired by it felt a very appropriate project to be involved in.

Which Hangeul words did you choose to doodle, and why those specific words?

For the works within the exhibition space, I worked with my brother and manager, Tom, and his Korean wife Jess, to decide the list of words. They created a selection for me that appropriately fit what my work is about. For example, words such as hwi (희-  Represents echo or vibration. It evokes emotional tremors, delicate strokes, and a sense of visual rhythm), muk (묵- Refers to traditional black ink used in calligraphy. It symbolizes the origin of drawing, something raw, essential, and deeply rooted in tradition), seon (선-  Means line, the fundamental element of drawing. It conveys flow, connection, and emotional link, also signifying goodness, reflecting purity and essentially good person), and un (운- Embodies warmth. It suggests softness and comfort) felt very connected to my doodling. I examined this list and selected words that aesthetically appealed to me within certain areas of my doodles. This allowed me to view them from an outsider's perspective, on a more visual level, while also being aware of their connections to my work. For the mural, I used a different selection of words, which were selected by the local community, such as kkot (꽃- Flower), sup (숲- Forest), and sum (숨- Breath). These were also great words to turn into my doodles because I immediately could see characters within them when I looked at them.

You experimented with different types of hanji. What qualities of the paper influenced your final choice? Why?

Yes, I really enjoyed trying out different types of hanji. In my work, I sometimes change the pens and tools I work with to doodle, but it is not often that I explore different surfaces to work on with my doodles, so this was a refreshing challenge. Some types of hanji were too thin, and the paint I used caused the hanji to bond with the surface beneath, which meant, unfortunately, I couldn’t use it. Some of the other hanji were too thick, and you couldn’t see the doodles from the opposite side that I was working on, so it kind of looked a lot like previous works I’d created, but I wanted this collection to be unique to this show. There was an option in between that offered a good surface to doodle onto, wasn’t too thick, and allowed the doodles to be seen from the reverse side, really celebrating the texture of the hanji. This meant my doodles appeared kind of aged, or ancient in a way. Which was a lovely contrast to previous shows of mine, which perhaps feel more modern and ‘’pop-like.’’

How did working on hanji compare to your usual canvases? Did it change the way your doodles flowed?

The surface wasn’t quite as smooth; in a sense, it was slightly more fluffy, if that’s the correct term. However, the doodles still flowed nicely, and it was so satisfying to see the reverse side after I finished a piece, because I never really knew how that would look until each work was finished. Showing the reverse side of the work is quite a new thing for me to do; the only times I can recall doing it in the past would have been when I’ve been working on glass and the audience is looking at the doodles from the other side, but the reverse side here naturally shows much more of a difference than glass would have done.

Which part of the outcome, the blending of Hangeul characters with your doodles, satisfied you the most?

I drew the Hangeul first onto the hanji, then worked around it with doodles, so the most satisfying part of the process was watching the patterns fill the space around the Hangeul. It was almost like the doodles were giving the Hangeul a hug and welcoming it to DoodleLand.

How do you hope Korean audiences perceive your fusion of doodles with their writing system?

I truly hope that the Korean audiences feel I’ve created the work respectfully and honored their beautiful writing system within my doodles. It was an honor to be asked to work with Hangeul, and I am sure I will continue to be inspired by it as a visual source well into the future, too.

What’s next?

I am working in my new studio in my garden, creating various works in there. I’m also making new music, animations, and all kinds of fun things. Lots of different projects are going on at the moment. I’m having the most fun in the world doing what I love, and am really grateful to the world for the opportunity to do this every day.

By transforming Hangeul with his playful doodle style, he brings fresh attention to Hangeul’s visual beauty. The works he created in Sejong honor Korean tradition while also expressing the boundless joy of making art.