SeMA prepares for renovation project, two new branches

Choi Eun-ju, general director of the Seoul Museum of Art, speaks at a press conference held at the museum in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Next year the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) will be all about connection and architecture, the head of the museum said in a press conference on Wednesday.

This follows the museum’s plans to open two additional branches next year and remodel its Seosomun main branch in Jung District, central Seoul, due to be completed by May 2026.

"We’re preparing for a new era for SeMA, for the next 30 years," said the museum’s general director Choi Eun-ju. “The remodeling of the Seosomun main branch and opening of the new branches will not only be an external growth for the museum but hopefully also aid in playing a pivotal role in the art world.”

An open contest will be held in November through December to determine the exact layout of SeMA’s future transformation. Construction will begin in September 2024 and be finished by May 2026.

Mainly they will expand the exhibition building’s basement floors, which houses the parking lot and storage space, and remodel the whole building. Exhibitions will continue even during the renovation period.

SeMA, Seoul’s municipal museum, has always emphasized its identity as a “network” of museums with branches scattered throughout the city, including the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art in Nowon District, northern Seoul, the Nam-Seoul Museum of Art in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, and the Art Archives in Jongno District, central Seoul.

The Seoul Museum of Photography, in Dobong District, northern Seoul, will open its doors in October 2024. The museum is set to be centered on the history and culture of Korean photography. Another branch, the Seo-Seoul Museum of Art in Geumcheon District, southwestern Seoul, will open the following month.

With these two agendas, SeMA hopes to experiment with related themes such as community, homes and the future of art museums in its upcoming exhibitions.

The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, which kicks off on Sept. 21 and runs until Nov. 19, will also be larger in scale. It has been increased to six venues: SeMA, the Seoul Museum of History, Seoullo Media Canvas, SeMA Bunker and the SpaceMM and Sogong Space galleries.

SeMA recently wrapped up its Edward Hopper exhibition. Attracting some 330,000 visitors during its four-month run, the event was a hit. Co-organized with the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, it was the first solo exhibition on Hopper (1882-1967) in Korea.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]