MMCA Seoul from above

The recently rebranded National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea unveiled this video of the MMCA Seoul branch to be inaugurated this November (see "MOCA goes MMCA - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art"):




I like the vivid rendering of the neighborhood:

• starting northwards, along Samcheong-ro: to the left the Gyeongbokgung, to the right Sogyeok-dong galleries and the new museum, with in the distance Bugaksan

• the virtual camera turns to the right and the former DSC's main building, which shed its white coating to bare its red bricks - and still those wonderful semicircular staircases I caught by night under last month's Supermoon:



"Supermoon" over the future #MMCASeoul
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/348434489560686593

Very spectacular from the inside as well. I took this picture during the 2009 ASYAAF (NB: don't forget: this year's edition is back to Culture Station Seoul 284 - until August 18 for the second part)



• about halfway into the video, we're slowing down before the next building, to enjoy the now cleared view on the large hanok in the background.

• we then start taking off slowly to appreciate the renovations and extensions, the gardens and green rooftops, and a well located terrasse at the corner with Bukchon-ro 5-gil

• before fading away to make room for the MMCA logo, the whole block is visible (Yulgok-ro to the South, Gamgodang-gil to the East, Samcheong-ro to the West, Bukchon-ro 5-gil to the North)

I won't say that I'm thrilled by the architecture, which reminds me a bit of my old ESSEC Campus (vintage 1973) before its renovation, but this project does mark an improvement for the neighborhood. At least if you compare it to the past (a low-rise open space replacing the gated Defense Security Command), or to Yongsan's criminal NMK (yes I love the National Museum of Korea, but from the outside doesn't it look like a ceausescuesque cinder block?).

Anyway, we shall judge MMCA Seoul from the inside, with all its hidden levels and services, and of course fully populated with collections, exhibitions, and humans.

I can't wait!


Seoul Village 2013
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MOCA goes MMCA - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Today, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (MOCA) unveiled its new Museum Identity as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA).

 

If you don't know the old logo, it's in a rather classic, institutional gold, and in capital letters. A litle bit like the chaebol logos from the 80s-90s:

 

 

The new and improved MMCA still looks familiar, and not just because you can almost read "MOMA" if you don't pay much attention. But the color version seems definitely lighter and more consistent than the black and white version, where the logo comes straight from the 70s (it would probably give a different impression if the white logo were, for instance, on a more simple black geometric figure):

 

Anyway... the MOCA had already rebranded its three branches:

• MMCA Gwacheon: the main building (near Seoul Grand Park) was inaugurated in 1986, but the institution itself was established in 1969 in Gyeongbokgung, and moved a first time to Deoksugung, in 1973.
• MMCA Deoksugung: the MOCA returned to Seokjojeon, where the focus is on modern art (museum collections, international exhibitions like the recent "Memory of landscape I have never seen", featuring collections from the National Gallery in Prague). Just hectometers away from SeMA Seosomun, via Jeong-dong-gil.
• MMCA Seoul: the new Sogyeok-dong branch will be inaugurated in November this year, and the MMCA regularly posts pictures of the new structures. Many of the fences have already been removed, so everybody can see the former Defense Security Command and Military Hospital emerge in new clothes and surroundings. I'm glad they dumped the "UUL National Art Museum" brand, which sounded like "melencholy" in Korean. About this saga, see former posts, particularly "ASYAAF 2009" (July 2009), "Shinhotan, Beginning of a new Era - a big MOCA cup for Seoul" (October 2009), "MOCA @ Defense Security Command, continued" (February 2010), "SeMA to block blockbusters" (February 2012).

MOCA Seoul in Sogyeok-dong, facing Gyeongbokgung

I can't wait to visit the new museum and its collections this November. Two other exhibitions are planned for the inauguration: "The Birth of a Museum: MMCA, Seoul Archive Project", and a "On-site Production and Installation Project" featuring SEO Do-ho, CHOE U-ram, and Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries.

Speaking of Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries and text designs... I wonder if MMCA will dare display in the former Defense Security Command this work called "Cunnilingus in North Korea" (watch the whole video: yhchang.com/CUNNILINGUS_IN_NORTH_KOREA.html)

THAT would be quite a shift from the 70s for this building!

Seoul Village 2013
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SeMA to block blockbusters

Seoul's blockbuster exhibition frenzy* may cool down a few notches. As we saw over the past few years, Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Klimt, Rodin, Warhol, or Chagall came to town in unprecedented waves, while at the other end of the spectrum, younger generations got a pretty nice share of spotlight**. Unsurprisingly, confirmed Korean artists didn't receive the attention they deserved, so the new head of the Seoul Museum of Art wants to switch to a more balanced diet*** (NB: I promise, that's it for my f***g ***s today).

Even if it doesn’t look as impressive as the massive Seoul Art Center complex in Seocho-gu, SeMA does have a lot of space to fill, but it's split between different venues. Until now, the editorial line looked (a little bit) like this:

• for power hitters: the main building in Jung-gu (former Supreme Court HQ in Seosomun). Bonus: print and TV ads, plus bright flag advertising banners all along Deoksugung-gil.
• for minor league players: a small yet cute Nam Seoul annex in Gwanak-gu (the former Belgian Embassy in Namhyeon-dong). Bonus: subliminal pop-ups on SeMA’s website.
• for little league toddlers: an architectural mess at the entrance of Gyeonghuigung (picture the roof of Munich Olympiastadion next to a royal palace – Prada Transformer did a much better job for the contrast). Bonus: the place seems to open only between 2.37 and 3.45 AM on certain holidays every leap year (of course I’m exaggerating: I remember among other successes a recent Seoul Photo Festival)
• Note that SeMA also acts as an incubator for promising artists in Mapo-gu (Nanji Art Space in Sangam-dong, in the Seoul Art Space spirit)

Significantly, these days, SeMA stars Yann Arthus Bertrand in yet another photo expo milking his Earth from Above series and Home movie ("It's my home"). Seosomun building also hosts a less advertized show about "Korean Abstract Painting - 10 Perspectives", and chances are I won't go all the way down South to see the most original program ("Where's my friend's home?" almost seems tailored for the Seoul Museum of History).

Typically, the new boss, who only took over a few days ago, wants to make more room for Korean artists in their 40s and 50s, and why not, to push beyond walls, towards the charming walkway of Deoksugung-gil (the museum gardens were already used as a stage in recent expos, and a couple of years ago, a trio of bronze sculptures featured at KIAF 2008 has been permanently installed across the entrance, by the palace walls).

It would take a Paik Nam-june to bring the same crowds as the blockbusters of the Noughties, but I don’t think that’s the aim of the game anymore. It’s not about flash events featuring big brands, but about brand building for art itself: now people must come even when there isn't a big name. Museum executives used to outsource the organization to a well connected producer: they will now have to do their jobs, and to contribute to a vast pedagogy effort that must also involve the media and school systems.

If SeMA already contributed a lot to the democratization of modern and contemporary art in Seoul, it cannot fulfill all its missions and fill all its venues with blockbusters occulting the rest (which also includes such recurrent events as the Media Art Biennale or the Print Biennal). So it can leave classic blockbusters to say the SAC, and devote more energy to more ambitious programs and to permanent collections... even if, of course, it cannot build as extensive a collection as the MOCA's (SeMA does propose a decent exhibition of its New acquisitions every year, though).

Speaking of the National Museum Of Contemporary Art: here too, a new chief has just been named this very week. Among the big challenges: preparing the inauguration of the "UUL National Art Museum" next year (reminder: the former Defense Security Command in Sogyeok-dong, a future landmark).

This period of fine tuning in normal considering the boom of the past years, as Seoul caught up with fellow world capitals in cultural infrastructures. As a younger player, it can learn from past mistakes. For instance, as a Parisian, it's interesting to see how long it took for the Musee d'Art Moderne to adapt to the new 'competitive environment' following the success of Centre George Pompidou.

To be continued.

Seoul Village 2012
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*"Gustav Klimt at Seoul Arts Center - Pompidou at SeMA"

** see for instance the ASYAAF series

**"SeMA to shift away from 'blockbuster' exhibitions" (Korea JoongAng Daily 20120206)

MOCA @ Defense Security Command, continued

As we saw earlier, the National Museum of Contemporary Art will open a new branch in Sogyeok-dong. And I was pleased to read today* that the DSC would not be obliterated : all five finalists to the architectural contest will respect an old building which proved its relevance for contemporary art (see ASYAAF 2009 last summer or the Shinhotan exhibition last autumn).

It's hard to judge by the pictures published in the JoongAng Daily, but each project seem to have its way of transforming the Defense Security Command complex (ie under one vast but thin slab for Lee Pil-hoon, scattered in colorful bars for Shin Chun-gyu...**), and all are gaining new volumes under the ground. Finalists will improve their submissions until the final decision in May and the result shouldn't be too intimidating, nor as massive as the National Museum in Yongsan. Mercifully, the jury rejected Frank Gehry - style soulless extravaganzzas (this guy basically runs a nice computer program to compensate the lack of vision of his clients), and that leaves room for sustainable creativity.

This project is significant from a cultural as well as an urban point of view : it will redefine the dialog between the Gyeongbokgung and the other side of Samcheongdong-gil, already a major art gallery cluster, but must also benefit the whole area around Anguk Station : Samcheong-dong restaurants to the North, Gahoe-dong alleys to the West, Insadong to the South... Art lovers will spend whole days zapping from early Joseon to late Lee Myung-bak periods by foot or on a bicycle.

Seoul Village 2010

* "New museum accentuates cultural hot spot" (JoongAng Daily 20100209)
** the other finalists : Jeong Ill-kyo, Kim Dong-hoon, Mihn Hyun-jun.

Shinhotan, Beginning of a new Era - a big MOCA cup for Seoul

A "Shinhotan" is a flare to show the way, what we Frogs call "un eclaireur".

"Shinhotan, Beginning of a new Era" is a relevant name for the exhibition preceding the transformation of the former Defense Security Command (Kimusa) into the Seoul MOCA, the Seoul branch of the National Museum Of Contemporary Art, Korea.

Kimusa was closed late last year and recently hosted ASYAAF 2009, confirming the potential of the site for contemporary art. This time, it's fully exploited, including the roof. "Space Transformation Project" bodes the transformation to come, while "Art Museum Project" showcases Korean contemporary artists from Gwacheon collections (in Kimusa's main building), and "Documentary Project" showcases images of this most controversial place in Korean minds. Overall, 300 works by 58 artists.

It's as much an end as a beginning : this is the last opportunity to visit this very intriguing place before it mutates into something completely different.

You have absolutely no excuse : admission is free.

Shinhotan, Beginning of a new Era - National Museum Of Contemporary Art, Seoul / 신호탄 - 국립현대미술관, 서울관 건립예정지
2009.10.22 - 2009.12.06
165 Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ROK
Tel: +82.2.2188.6000
seoul.moca.go.kr
artmu.moca.go.kr

Seoul Village 2009

ASYAAF 2009

The Chosun Ilbo and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 2009 Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival at the old Defense Security Command building on Samcheong-dong-gil, in front of the Gyeongbokgung's Folk Village.

The building itself is plays a major part in the success of the operation : tiny bare rooms, dark corridors, post-apocalyptic staircases... you feel like you're going from one vault to another, trapped in some kind of a prison where contemporary art ghosts walks free. Along with an army of friendly and helpful green humanoids called SAM (Student Art Managers).

The 2008 edition at Seoul Station was titled "When we first met" and these days, "We Meet The Future". In very deed, you will meet with 777 young talents from Korea, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. Of course, many works still look amateurish... but this definitely beats most galleries from the neighborhood, and more than a few would fare pretty well at the KIAF (coming up this september at the COEX).

I won't tell names of artists I liked because - full disclosure here - I laid a few red dots during my visit. Works are for sale, and at a reasonable price. So you can support young artists not only by admiring their productions in this unique context.


ASYAAF 20092009.07.29 - 08.23
Defense Security Command, Old Building
165 Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ROK
Tel: +82.2.724.5337
asyaaf.chosun.com

---

ADDENDUM 20090812

I just came back from the exhibition. I didn't want to miss the second installation : a second set of Korean artists (and some foreigners) is exposed, and it was worth the visit (more emotions... and more red dots - I'm looking forward to meeting with the creators).

Cheonjin Poja (Seoul)

One of my favorite spots in Samcheong-dong ? Cheonjin Poja (천진포자 - or Tianjin Baozi / 天津包子).

Receipes may come from Tianjin, the founder came from Taiwan decades ago. Since she couldn't find any decent dumplings in Seoul she decided to make a job out of it.

The result is both good and cheap, which explains the success : an annex opened just meters away from the original place, and you often have to wait to get one of the happy few seats. But you never have to wait for too long : it doesn't take that much time to wolf down their treats.

The menu goes from 3 to 5,000 wons and includes 5 categories : noodles (chow mein, chow bing), fried flower bread, and dumplings : in soup (mandu guk), with meat (pork mandu), or with veggies (an amazing half open leek / buchu mandu).

Reaching this Shangri-la is quite easy. Take Gyoyuk-gil at Anguk Station (exit 3), that's the small street facing Ujeongguk-ro. You pass the schools and a few eateries and that's it, to your left, just before ArtSonje Center and Bukchon-gil.

Cheonjin Poja / 천진포자 (restaurant)
127 Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ROK
Tel : +82.2.739.6086

SM / Seoul Village 2008

see other restaurants in Seoul and Korea.