The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA; Director Kim Sunghee) held a press conference on 6 January, and announced its exhibition plans for 2026 together with major initiatives.
 
In 2026, the MMCA will launch a new set of major initiatives to meet the public’s heightened expectations for engagement with visual culture and the arts, contribute to the global expansion of K-art, and fulfill its social responsibility as Korea’s sole national art museum.
 
It will ▲strengthen its international exhibition programs through the Global Focus exhibitions, which will intensively introduce contemporary artists at the center of international attention, and ▲launch a new initiative, MMCA Regional Partnership, aimed at expanding the museum’s outstanding content to regional areas. The museum will further reinforce its public role as a national museum through ▲the launch of MMCA Conservation School, a new program for training young art conservation professionals, and ▲the introduction of a digital archive image service. In addition, ▲by museum will fully activate global curatorial research network programs.

The year 2026 marks both the 40th anniversary of MMCA Gwacheon and the 140th anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations between Korea and France. As the nation’s sole representative national art museum, the MMCA will broaden the horizons of Korean art and engage in even closer dialogue with the global art community.
 
First, the MMCA will reframe art history through research-driven exhibitions on Korean art and solidify its position within a global context.
 
▲《This Is (Not) Conceptual Art》 will examine conceptual tendencies in Korean contemporary art which have focused on concepts, language, processes, and contexts. ▲《The Way of Reading: From Paper to Pixel》 will explore the dynamic relationship between graphic design and visual culture. ▲《Korean Artists in France 1950s–1970s》 will shed light on the lives and art of Korean artists who moved to France in the wake of the Korean War—including Kwon Okyon, Nam Kwan, Rhee Seundja, and Lee Ungno—considering how these artists sought identity in unfamiliar places and expanded the boundaries of art.

 
Second, the MMCA will continue to spotlight Korean artists in order to position them within both the domestic and global art scenes, reassessing senior artists to expand art history, offering mid-career artists new momentum, and continuously supporting the production of new works by contemporary artists.
 
▲The largest-ever solo exhibition of Korea’s representative installation artist Do Ho Suh will offer a comprehensive survey of his practice from its beginnings to the present, centered on fundamental themes such as migration and dwelling as well as the individual and the collective. Along with ▲a large-scale retrospective reflecting on the life and art of Lee Daiwon, an artist occupying a distinctive position in Korean art, retrospectives of ▲Park suk won, a leading figure in Korean contemporary abstract sculpture, and ▲Bang Hai ja, who has devoted her career to light as a source of inspiration and established an independent artistic presence in France, are also being prepared.

In addition, ▲《Korea Artist Prize 2026》, co-organized with the SBS Foundation, will present representative works and new commissions by four of the most actively working contemporary artists in Korea, while the ▲《MMCA × LG OLED Series 2026》 will feature large-scale installation works reflecting the spatial characteristics of Seoul Box, a landmark exhibition space at MMCA Seoul. Both exhibitions will be presented in September, coinciding with the period when art professionals from around the world gather for major art events.

Third, through Global Focus and international exchange exhibitions, the MMCA will actively collaborate with the global art community and provide diverse opportunities for engagement with visual art.
 
▲Asia’s first large-scale solo exhibition of the internationally renowned Damien Hirst will highlight key themes in the artist’s work, including death and immortality, faith in science and medicine, and human desire. ▲《Georgia O’Keeffe and American Modern Art》 will center on Georgia O’Keeffe, a leading figure in American modernist painting. ▲《Art Between Korea and Japan Since 1945》, co-organized with the Yokohama Museum of Art to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan, will open in MMCA Gwacheon in May, following its presentation in Japan.
 
▲The internationally touring exhibition of the Lee Kun-hee Collection will be held in Chicago and London following its presentation in Washington, DC, and ▲《Korean Moving Image & Performance in Poland》 will be presented at venues including KINOMUZEUM at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland.

Fourth, the MMCA will lead critical discourse in the art world through international exhibitions that probe contemporary issues and themes. ▲At MMCA Seoul, 《Sak-da: The Poetics of Decomposition》 will examine shifting forms of contemporary art, including works destined to decay and works created with the intention of leaving nothing behind, under the concept of “art that decomposes.”
 
▲In celebration of the 40th anniversary of MMCA Gwacheon, site-specific installation projects will illuminate the museum anew, inviting immersive engagement with nature and art both inside and outside the museum. Works from the museum’s collection and commissioned projects centered around the theme of light, including works by James Turrell, will be featured through the 《MMCA Gwacheon 40th Anniversary Project: Brightening the MMCA》.
 
Fifth, performing arts and film programs will reflect the expanded scope of contemporary art. ▲ 《MMCA Performing Arts 2026: Deep Time》 will explore the complexity of time experienced in everyday life by contemporary individuals through the figure of the detective and the notion of “deep detective thinking.” ▲《MMCA Film and Video 2026》 will present a diverse lineup of moving-image works, including experimental films and art documentaries.

References

• 국립현대미술관 보도자료 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) Press Release)