The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) announced at a press conference on January 27 that Seo-Seoul Museum of Art (Seo SeMA)—the first public museum in Seoul dedicated to new media art—will officially open on March 12.
 
Located in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, Seo SeMA will operate exhibitions and research programs focused on new media that experiment with emerging media and artistic languages. The museum will also place a strong emphasis on art education, particularly aimed at nurturing youth and future generations of artists.
 
SeMA further stated that the museum will strengthen its institutional expertise through sustained research and artistic production in new media, exchanges with domestic and international institutions, and the operation of a media lab as well as a future digital platform.

To mark its opening this March, Seo-Seoul Museum of Art will present three inaugural exhibitions: the SeMA performance 《Breath》, the architectural archive exhibition 《Our Time Begins Here》, and the new media collection exhibition 《Seo-Seoul’s Transparent |Youth| Machine》.
 
The SeMA performance 《Breath》, which signals the beginning of Seo SeMA, explores the intersections of the body, society, and art through the theme of “breathing,” understood as an organic movement that frames humans and environments as media.
 
The architectural archive exhibition 《Our Time Begins Here》 examines the significance of the museum site as a place where multiple layers of time converge, approaching the process of building Seo SeMA and the narratives of Seoul’s southwestern region through the lens of “records of memory” accumulated within people and places.
 
The new media collection exhibition 《Seo-Seoul’s Transparent |Youth| Machine》 unveils for the first time approximately ten major large-scale works from Seo SeMA’s new media–focused collection, shedding light on the contemporary conditions of youth as posthuman subjects shaped by information–body symbiosis.

In August, the museum will present the media artist exhibition 《Kim Heecheon: Moles》. The “Media Artist Exhibition” series highlights key contemporary media artists, positioning Seo-Seoul Museum of Art as a site for artistic research and production. For its inaugural edition, the museum invites Kim Heecheon, an artist who has consistently offered critical perspectives on contemporary technological environments and culture.
 
《Kim Heecheon: Moles》 will create an opportunity to pose questions about consciousness and experience of the self in a world driven by invisible technologies and screen-based systems.
 
Alongside the exhibition program, Seo-Seoul Museum of Art will launch a mid- to long-term research initiative titled “Research on Korean Media Art,” and will publish an annual Media Artist Research Series dedicated to in-depth studies of Korean media artists. In addition, the museum will release a research volume titled Performance and the Museum as part of its institutional research publications.
 
At the same time, Seo-Seoul Museum of Art is preparing age-specific educational programs designed to enhance understanding of new media, and will initiate research and development for digital literacy through a “University Collaborative Production Research” program.

Seoul Museum of Art will complete its system of eight main and branch museums with the opening of Seo-Seoul Museum of Art this March, following the opening of Photography Seoul Museum of Art in 2025. The museum stated that while strengthening the unique identity of each venue, it will operate them as an organically integrated institution.
 
In addition, SeMA announced that it will move forward in earnest with the remodeling project of its Seosomun Main Building, with completion targeted for September 2030, as part of its efforts to reestablish itself as a museum representing the global city of Seoul.
 
The plan includes a horizontal expansion of two underground levels beneath the plaza without adding above-ground space, along with a full renovation of the exhibition wing. The underground space beneath the forecourt of the exhibition building is also slated to be expanded to accommodate additional galleries, visitor amenities, and storage facilities.

References

• 서울시립미술관 보도자료 (Seoul Museum of Art Press Release)