National art museum opens to dogs

A visitor and her dog look around “A Museum for All, A Museum for Dogs” exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. Courtesy of MMCA

By Kwon Mee-yoo

The latest attempt by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) at interdisciplinary art is rather radical ― it has created an exhibition for dogs and their owners.

Titled "A Museum for All, A Museum for Dogs," it is the first national art exhibit in Korea to invite canine companions, opening a discussion on the role of museums. The exhibit was originally scheduled for May, the month of family, but postponed to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The exhibit at MMCA Seoul explores "significant otherness" between companion animals and owners. According to statistics, about 30 percent of Korean households live with companion animals and the museum is attempting to experiment whether companion animals can be accepted as social constituents in public spaces and whether it can offer an exhibit for non-human visitors.

"Companions animals are now part of many families, but few public places are allowed for canine visitors, not to mention museums," curator Sung Yong-hee said. "For this exhibition, it is more like dogs infiltrated into the museum space, not humans inviting dogs to the museum."

Veterinarian Seol Chae-hyeon, left, tries Jogakscout's “Dream of Dog” with his dog at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. Yonhap

The museum collaborated with experts to create the exhibition for dogs.

"Although I organized this exhibition for dogs, I personally have a cat at home and invited two veterinarians Seol Chae-hyeon and Cho Kwang-min to provide consultation on animal behavior, emotions and tendencies," Sung said.

Architect Kim Kyung-jae and landscape architect Smooth Yoo helped create an environment suitable for dogs.

"Dogs cannot have the same visual experience as humans, so we tried to provide a novel experience for dogs and the experts advised us in creating the right atmosphere," Sung said.

Architect Kim Kyung-jae came up with "The Near Future, User's Guide for Someone Else's Living Space," which in fact is a living room for dogs. With chair legs cut to fit dogs' height, humans will find it uncomfortable, reversing their usual environment.

Landscape architect Smooth Yoo created "The Forest for All," an artificial forest within the museum with structures for dogs. A spiral structure allows dogs to come up to eye level with humans, while the plants create a more natural environment for dogs to explore.

Dogs are known to see colors such as yellow and blue and be blind to red and green. Kim Yong-kwan's "Blue & Yellow" is the artist's way of offering the lushness of green in plants and flowers to dogs, by painting artificial plants and flowers in blue and yellow.

Kim Yong-kwan's “Blue & Yellow” is inspired by the fact that dogs can only see the colors blue and yellow. Courtesy of MMCA

"You Can See If You Approach" is video art with a similar approach, as the screen looks green at first, but becomes a combination of blue and yellow grids as the image gets enlarged, allowing dogs to distinguish the colors.

Danish duo Hanne Nielsen and Birgit Johnsen's "Blind Walk" is a two-channel video offering a chance to observe the relationship between a visually impaired person and a guide dog by scenes captured by two cameras, one mounted on the blind woman's body and the other on the guide dog's head.

Kim Se-jin's video "Messenger(s)" is a nod to Laika, the first dog and living creature to go on a space flight. David Shrigley's playful animation "Hello There" features Mr. Dog and an unnamed character off screen, playing a game of fetch with the dog.

David Claerbout's "The Pure Necessity" is a re-creation of the animated film "Jungle Book," but without the humanization of animals, resulting in a paradoxical lack of vitality.

Jung Yeon-doo's "Togo and Balto ― A Group Sculpture of a Canine Hero Who Saved Humanity" features life-sized sculptures of sled dogs that delivered immune serums to save children from a plague in Alaska back in 1925. The sculptures are made of dog food and draw attention from dog visitors. At the same time, Jung throws questions on the ethics of animal food made from other animals.

Canine visitors can also go out to the museum's courtyard, where they can play with Kim Yong-kwan's "Beware, I Am Big and Non-dangerous!" Kim Yong-kwan imagined unconventional tools for the Canis Ludens, or dog the player, emphasizing the dogs' desire to have fun.

Stacks of rice straw provide a fresh olfactory experience for modern companion dogs mostly living in a domestic or urban environment.

Jogakscout created "Dream of Dog" at the museum's outdoor plaza, using objects for dog agility games in the colors dogs can recognize ― blue and yellow ― and abstract sculptural shapes.

There also will be performances and screenings for dogs, expanding the variety of art canine visitors and their companions can enjoy.

A canine visitor looks at Jung Yeon-doo's “Togo and Balto ― A Group Sculpture of a Canine Hero Who Saved Humanity.” Courtesy of MMCA

The museum also plans to offer an exhibition day of parrots, which only parrots and their owners can visit. "It will be a totally different experience, watching how the birds will use the creations for dogs," the curator said.

The MMCA Seoul reopens Tuesday with the Central Disaster Safety and Countermeasure Headquarters easing social distancing rules for national museums and theaters ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

Reservations are required to visit the museum and "Museum for All, Museum for Dogs" exhibition with dogs. Visit mmca.go.kr for more information.