[South Korea/Exhibition Report] National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (MMCA Seoul)

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During my trip to South Korea, I visited the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (hereinafter MMCA or Seoul branch). I will write about my impressions.

* Currently, some special exhibitions have already ended.

▶︎ Conclusion

It was a highly satisfying museum! This is mainly due to: 1) a space with an overwhelming sense of openness that exceeds the total floor area of the largest museum in Japan, 2) a lot of high-quality contemporary art, and 3) it is cheap at about 700 yen to see everything. Since there are many tourist spots nearby such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, I highly recommend visiting when you come to South Korea, whether you are interested in contemporary art or not!

▶︎ Reason for visiting

During my trip to South Korea, I wanted to see Korean contemporary art. When I looked at sites that hit on Google for "South Korea Seoul contemporary art," they all recommended the "National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul" first, so I decided to go.

▼ Summary of South Korea trip

▶︎ Access

To get to the Seoul branch, it is about a 15-minute walk from Anguk Station (안국역). It is a relatively easy route as you just walk straight out of the station and turn once. You can arrive if you just aim for Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁).

▶︎ What is the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul?

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (국립현대미술관) was established in 1969 as the only national art museum in South Korea.

✔️ Four locations in South Korea

MMCA has four branches in South Korea.

• Gwacheon Museum (1986): A family- and nature-friendly museum that includes a "Children's Museum"

• Deoksugung Museum (1998): A museum inside an old palace that handles modern Korean art

• Seoul Museum (2013): An open museum where the city, history, and contemporary art breathe together

• Cheongju Museum (2018): A storage-type museum specialized in the collection and preservation of artworks

✔️ The Seoul Museum is the third one

The Seoul Museum opened in 2013 after about four years of construction on a site that previously housed military-related facilities. The brick building sections were built before the Korean War, and it seems they were renovated from buildings that had been used as a hospital and a security command headquarters.

✔️ There are also stylish cafes and a movie theater!

The structure consists of three basement levels and three floors above ground. In addition to many exhibition rooms, there is a movie theater, a cafe, a museum shop, and more (I heard there is also a rooftop, but I didn't notice it).

✔️ Online reservation is not required

Online reservation is possible. However, for the exhibition that was being held at the time, it was empty, so there was no need to make a reservation.

✔️ It's just huge!

A characteristic of the Seoul Museum is that it is "just huge" (total floor area is 52,125㎡). The total floor area of the National Art Center, Tokyo, which is the largest in Japan, is 49,834㎡, so the Seoul Museum is 4.6% larger than that.

▼ Impressions of an exhibition at The National Art Center, Tokyo (Japan)

The space is incredibly vast, making it very comfortable to view the exhibits. The ceilings are also extremely high, with some areas featuring two to three-story atriums. It might even be taller than the Aleko Hall at the Aomori Museum of Art.

▼ Impressions of the Aomori Museum of Art (Japan)

Also, admission is free if you are just entering the building. People in Korea view the MMCA as a familiar, accessible place to take a break or take photos.

✔️ A must-visit for contemporary art lovers!

Inside the museum, there are plenty of contemporary art pieces! Even if you don't understand Korean or English, contemporary art (unlike religious paintings) has a way of speaking to the heart.

Also, many of the visitors were very stylish. It seems that stylish people tend to gather in places with good taste.

▶︎ Impressions of the exhibition

On the day I visited, four exhibitions were being held. The prices were ₩2,000 each for three of the exhibitions, ₩5,000 for one, and ₩7,000 for an all-inclusive ticket. I purchased the all-inclusive ticket.

In recent years, ticket prices for exhibitions at national and public museums in Japan have been around 2,000 yen. Compared to that, ₩7,000 (about 700 yen) is extremely cheap! Note that the admission fee for 'MUSEUM SAN', which I visited later, was between ₩23,000 and ₩46,000, so not all museums in Korea are cheap.

✔️ "Korea Artist Prize 2024"

The "Korea Artist Prize" is an exhibition that the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art has been running since 2012 with the support of the SBS Foundation. It seems they always select four artists every year.

At Korean art museums, there is no time to read the captions, so Ibasically viewed them quickly.

My impression was that there were many scary or surreal works. Is this a characteristic of contemporary Korean artists...?

✔️ "Lee Kang So: Where the Wind Meets the Water"

Lee Kang So (born in Daegu, Korea, 1943) is atalented artistwho has participated in the Paris Biennale (1975), Sydney Biennale (1976), and Tokyo International Print Biennale (1976), among others.

Overall, there were manyhighly abstract works.

Lee Kang So is affiliated with "Tokyo Gallery" in Japan.

▼ A book written by Hotsun Yamamoto, representative of Tokyo Gallery (read in July 2023)

At "Gallery Madang," you can also enjoy Lee Kang So's public art (free). Madang means "courtyard" in Hangul. This atrium space was anincredibly vast and luxurious space.

✔️ "Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists"

The main special exhibition during this period. "Connecting Bodies" refers to bodies "connected" by ideologies such as nation, state, patriarchy, capitalism, and nationalism.Female artists from 11 Asian countriespresentabout 130 worksthat question these concepts.

✔️ "Project Hashtag 2024"

A project where MMCA discovers Korean creators. It started in 2019 with the support of Hyundai Motor Company. The "#" is a search symbol used on social media. It embodies the meaning of "transcending conventions and boundaries through art," just like the "#" that enables unpredictable connections and communication.

The 2024 edition is organized around the theme of "games." Since this venue was located on the second floor, I almost missed it.

▶︎ Summary

How was it? Even if you don't know Korean, it was a highly satisfying museum. In addition to the huge and comfortable spatial design at a level you don't see in Japan, you can see high-quality contemporary art. Also, the prices are exceptionally low compared to Japan. When you come to Korea, whether you are interested in art or not, this is a museum I highly recommend visiting!

▼ Other Korean museums I visited

▶︎ Today's Museum Meal