[Gallery Walk] Future Art Lights Up at the Edge of the Factory District... Opening of 'Seoseoul Museum of Art'

Seoul Museum of Art Seoseoul Opens on March 12

From the Performance “Breath” to the New Media Collection Exhibition

Low-Rise Architecture Blending with the Park, Featuring a Media Lab and Multipurpose Hall

A New Hub Filling the Cultural Infrastructure Gap in Southwestern Seoul

At the end of the walking trail in Geumnarae Central Park, Geumcheon-gu, the silver metallic exterior wall glistens in the sunlight. Shadows of trees and the sky sweep across the irregular metal surface, and people walking through the park slow their steps in front of the glass lobby. The boundary between the park and the building is almost invisible. This is the Seoul Museum of Art Seoseoul, the first public art museum in the southwestern part of Seoul.

On the 12th, artists were examining the exhibits at the Seoul Metropolitan Seoseoul Museum of Art in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, which opened on the same day. Photo by Yonhap News

On March 12, the Seoul Museum of Art opened the Seoseoul branch, the city’s first public art museum specializing in new media. With this opening, the Seoul Museum of Art now operates a total of eight main and branch locations, including the Seosomun main branch, Buk Seoul, and Nam Seoul museums.

The opening ceremony was attended by Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon, Art Center Nabi Director Noh Soyeong, and other prominent figures from the arts and culture sector, who celebrated the launch of the Seoseoul branch. Mayor Oh stated, “Now, residents in the southwestern region can experience world-class new media art close to home, without having to travel far,” and added, “I hope this space becomes a beloved cultural venue in the daily lives of citizens for many years to come.”

The Seoseoul branch is a specialized art museum that focuses on new media art, carrying out exhibition, research, education, and experimental functions. It is operated as a space that broadly covers contemporary media art, including video and sound, performance, internet art, and coding art.

The building features a low-rise design with two basement levels and one ground floor, totaling 7,186 square meters. With a lowered boundary to the park and multiple accessible pathways, it is designed so that citizens can naturally visit the museum while strolling or moving through the park in their daily routine.

Artist duo Graycode and an acquaintance are presenting the sound artwork 'About Air' at the Seosoeul Museum of Art, Seoul Museum of Art, on the 12th. Photo by Yonhap News

The architectural design was handled by architect Kim Chanjung of The_System Lab. Hammered stainless steel panels were used for the exterior walls, gently reflecting the surrounding trees, sky, and seasonal changes. From a distance, the building blends into the park landscape rather than standing out.

Inside the museum, there are three exhibition halls. The ground floor and first basement exhibition spaces have high ceilings and flexible layouts to accommodate exhibitions of various scales. The basement also houses a multipurpose hall for performances, lectures, and film screenings, as well as a media lab for experimenting with digital-based work.

With the opening, performance art is being held throughout the museum. The SeMA Performance “Breath,” which runs from March 12 to April 12, features 27 artists or teams. Performances take place in various spaces, including the exhibition halls, corridors, media lab, and multipurpose hall, allowing visitors to encounter the works as they move between exhibition areas.

In the museum’s in-between spaces—such as the lobby, grassy yard, and loading dock shutters—the archival exhibition “Our Time Begins Here” is being held. This exhibition presents the construction process of the museum and the history of the southwestern region through documentary photographs and installation works.

On the 12th, performers dressed in white presented Hwang Soohyun's live performance "The World" among the visitors at the Seoseoul Museum of Art, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Starting from May 14, the new media collection exhibition “Seoseoul’s Transparent |Youth| Machine” will be held. This exhibition will publicly unveil around ten major new media works from the museum’s collection for the first time.

On the grassy yard in front of the museum, the outdoor project “SeMA Project V_Yallu” will take place. The work “Shin Inho Landing,” composed of LED panels and media installations, will operate within the park landscape.

The Seoseoul branch is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. On Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, opening hours vary by season, closing at either 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. Admission is free.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.