1.png

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Arts on April 22 opened an online museum menu on its homepage to offer more opportunities for appreciating art online. The website offers up to 270 pieces of audiovisual content allowing users to learn more about exhibitions, as well as offering interviews with artists, art classes and education videos.


The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Arts on April 22 opened a new online menu on its homepage offering 270 pieces of art-related audiovisual content amid social distancing in the country due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.


Earlier on March 30, the museum opened its first online exhibition "Modern and Contemporary Korean Writing" on its YouTube channel. It has since featured photos and videos of online exhibitions, art classes, and interviews with artists on its homepage and YouTube account.


Foreign media have taken a close look at the online art content of the museum.


Mentioning delays in exhibition openings at museums, the British current affairs and culture magazine Monocle on April 6 said, "The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art offers a salutary example for its western counterparts," adding, "It launched its latest exhibition, of Korean calligraphy, as an 80-minute YouTube video walk-through."


Monocle also said that "it is wise to pursue the possibilities of digital space until an opening date is more assured."


The U.K. daily Guardian on March 23 and the U.S. business magazine Forbes on March 18 selected the museum as a recommended online museum to visit along with others such as the J. Paul Getty Museum in the U.S., Vatican Museums in Vatican City and Museo Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain.


Youn Bummo, NMCA director, said, "COVID-19 is offering both crisis and opportunity to the culture and art sector around the world at the same time."

"Various discourse will likely surface on new issues such as changes in the methods of art communication and new hopes for and roles and limitations of digital art museums after the pandemic ends."


Korea.net