Museum of Contemporary Art Busan (director Kang Seung-wan), which celebrated its sixth anniversary of this year, announced the direction of innovation in institutional operations and exhibition lineup to strengthen its identity as a regional representative art museum and make a leap towards becoming an international art museum.

First, the museum plans to establish a network including museums in Korea and abroad, and to establish the foundation of a new museum by holding exhibitions that are public-friendly and present new discourses by reinterpreting social phenomena and locality through contemporary art.

In February, a large-scale exhibition “This is Not Just Local: Tactical Practices,” which brings together various curators and artists centered in Busan to examine issues and practices derived from the concept of ‘locality’ and explore the meaning of locality in the contemporary era, will be held. Following this, in March, an international exhibition “Masterful Attention Seekers” will be held, which explores the history of interest from the past to the present by categorizing the various layers of ” attention seeker” that appear in contemporary art.

In November, after the conclusion of the Busan Biennale (August-October), three special exhibitions will be held simultaneously. First, it will present ” My Jubilee Ist Unverhemmet,” a large-scale retrospective of Nam June Paik, a world-renowned media artist who has expanded public access to contemporary art. This special exhibition is co-hosted with the Nam June Paik Art Center and is expected to contribute to the spread and development of Korean art culture by activating ongoing exchanges between public museums.

Next, the annual exhibition “Busan MoCA Platform,” which began last year to share social concerns and reflections on the environment and ecology of the future society, will be titled “2024 Busan MoCA Platform_I’m Sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that” and will address the sustainability of the future environment in a world of digital intelligence and technological convergence, and the tangible connection and interaction between humans and the environment.

And, “Seeing, Thinking, and Touching” will be held in November. The exhibition attempts to de-centralize the dominance of vision and contributes to the museum’s public presence by expanding opportunities for visitors from all walks of life to interact with contemporary art.

Starting in April, the museum will host the exhibition “Sticky Sticker” in collaboration with domestic and international graphic designers. Some of the stickers produced in the exhibition will be available for purchase in the reorganized museum shop, along with art products developed with eco-friendly materials. In addition, this year’s collection exhibition, “Busan MoCA Collection,” will consist of works by artists: Marc Lee, STUDIO1750, Heaven Baek, and DIS.

References

• 부산현대미술관(Museum of Contemporary Art Busan)