SeMA contextualizes its collection

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) has accumulated 5,173 works in its collection since opening in 1985. It is not a very large collection compared to other big museums, but SeMA tries to reinterpret and contextualize its works as a public museum.

A new exhibition "Collecting for All" features 131 works ― 86 from the museum's collection and an additional 45 pieces from artists with works belonging to the museum ― with the aim of exploring the significance of the museum's collection and its openness to the public.

SeMA is an affiliate of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and thus the museum's collection is bought with Seoul residents' tax money. "Collecting for All" focuses the common-pool resource nature of the museum's collection and tries to connect the artworks with daily life.

"Most of the museum's collection spends time in storage, but they should be shared by all citizens,” said SeMA director Beck Jee-sook. “The value of a museum's collection can be rediscovered in these rapidly changing times and we want to share the new value with visitors.”

The exhibit consists of six parts ― Collective Lab, Reference Room, Media Theater, Green Library, Performance Stage and Crystal Gallery.

Artworks on display range from Part-time Suite's VR (virtual reality) installation "Wait for Me in a Crashing Airship" and Choi Hae-ri's installation "A Portent of the Sequel" examining the history of art to Choi Sung-rok's "Scroll Down Journey" and Yun Ai-young's LED artwork series "Unknown Planet".

Kim Joo-hyun's "Bridge of Life ― Nine Columns" is expanded for this exhibition and plants and books selected in cooperation with the Neutinamu Library in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province will be displayed along with the artwork made of 1,971 wooden sticks.

The exhibit is scheduled to run through May 31. However, because the museum is closed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the exhibition is now available only online. SeMA is considering allowing limited numbers of visitors to the museum on reservation.

The museum strives to stay connected during social distancing and created a hashtag #SeMA_Link to communicate with people interested in art. The museum introduces a piece from its collection every Monday, explains an art history trend or concept on Wednesday. On Friday, curators answer questions.

Video clips on the preparation and installation process and a tour of the "Collecting for All" exhibition can be seen on the museum's YouTube channel (youtube.com/SeoulMuseumofArt).

According to SeMA, among the social media channels, Instagram has been the most popular, with about 14,000 views, the highest since the account's launch.

Meanwhile, the museum is also featuring "Collecting Architecture for All," another exhibition of its collection centering on architecture, at its branch Nam-Seoul Museum of Art through June 14.

The southern Seoul branch is in the former Belgian consulate building and the museum attempts to compare traditional Korean architecture to Western architecture introduced to Korea.

The exhibition includes construction materials of the Belgian consulate and a decorative "giwa" (roof tile) of the National Treasure No. 1 Sungnyemun Gate, and architectural sketches and models of modern Korean buildings such as Kim Swoo-geun's Kyung Dong Church and Kim Chung-up's Samil Building.

For more information, visit sema.seoul.go.kr.