On the 10th, the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) announced its major exhibition plans for 2025. The museum has set "Action" as its institutional agenda and "Planet" as its exhibition theme for 2025. It plans to present a variety of exhibitions and multidimensional programs at its Seosomun Main Branch, Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, Nam-Seoul Museum of Art, and Art Archive.

The Seosomun Main Branch will host a solo exhibition of contemporary female artist Kang Myonghi in March and a project tentatively titled “Talking Heads” in May, both in the first half of 2025. In the second half, it will present the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale in August. 

The “Kang Myonghi Solo Exhibition” (March 4 – June 8, 2025) will offer a comprehensive reexamination of the artistic world of Kang Myonghi, a leading figure in contemporary Korean art who, after relocating to France in the early 1970s, has been relatively less active in Korea. The exhibition will focus on her poetic painting series that delves into the relationship between existence and nature, showcasing her artistic practice over the years.

Meanwhile, “Talking Heads” (May 1 – June 29, 2025, tentative) is a project centered on capturing subtle movements and experimenting with various methods to make them visible. This initiative interweaves "exhibitions" and "programs" in a complementary manner, addressing challenges both inside and outside institutional frameworks. It will also serve as an opportunity to explore the complex relationships among museums, artworks (artists), and audiences. 

The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale (August 26 – November 23, 2025, tentative) will examine the historical connections between art, society, and spirituality, focusing on the interplay between conscious living and connection with other worlds.

At the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, the spring season will feature a special themed project titled “The Counterattack of Painting” (working title), followed by “Title Match” in August.

“The Counterattack of Painting” is an exhibition project that highlights the medium of painting. It comprises three parts: a special exhibition (April 30 – July 20, 2025) that traces the journey of ten prominent modern and contemporary Korean painters from the Lee Kun-hee Art Collection, shedding light on the intrinsic value of two-dimensional painting, and a contemporary painting exhibition (April 30 – July 20, 2025) that explores the themes of "visuality" and "image" in a multifaceted manner. 

Lastly, the project will end with a solo exhibition of Christian Hidaka, a Japanese-British artist whose works merge the histories and techniques of Eastern and Western painting (June 5, 2025 – May 10, 2026).

The museum's signature annual exhibition, “Title Match” (August 14 – November 12, 2025), will align with the 2025 institutional agenda of "Action." This year, the exhibition will feature YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES and Hong Jin-hwon. It will explore the moments before and after collective voices emerge, examining discord as a form of politics and the possibilities of aesthetic and artistic action.

The Seoul Museum of Art's Art Archive will host “Mnemonic of Activism” (working title) from March 6 to July 27, 2025. This exhibition links the institutional agenda of "Action" with archival practices. It will connect archive- and research-based works with manuscripts produced in personal domains, offering a perspective on the social value and practical mechanisms of recording and documenting practices. 

Further details on the Seoul Museum of Art's 2025 operational direction and exhibition plans will be announced in January 2025.

References

• 서울시립미술관 보도자료 (Seoul Museum of Art Press Release)

Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.