178 Works from Public Collections Head to Seoul and Gimhae... Art Bank's First Large-Scale Linked Exhibition

Jointly organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, the SOMA Museum of Art, and the Gimhae City Kim Youngwon Museum
“Cluster: Six Gardens” opens at SOMA on October 9; “Sculpture Atlas” opens in Gimhae on October 13
Art Ba

Works from the Art Bank and Government Art Bank of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, will be brought together with collections from museums in Seoul and Gimhae in two large-scale sculpture exhibitions.

Posters for the 2026 Art Bank Sculpture Project exhibition, co-organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea’s Art Bank and regional art museums. On the left is “Sculpture Map: The Unfolding Atlas,” opening on the 13th at the Gimhae Kim Young-won Museum of Art. On the right is “Colony: Six Gardens,” opening on the 9th at the Soma Museum of Art. The two exhibitions bring together works from the Art Bank and Government Art Bank collections with works held or loaned by participating institutions, showcasing the diverse currents and expansion of contemporary Korean sculpture. National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, announced on Oct. 8 that it will join with the Soma Museum of Art and Gimhae City Kim Young-won Museum of Art to launch the "2026 Art Bank Collection-Focused Exhibition Support Program," opening "Colony: Six Gardens" at the Soma Museum of Art and "Sculpture Map: The Unfolding Atlas" at the Gimhae City Kim Young-won Museum of Art in succession.

This is the first large-scale series of linked special exhibitions to combine works from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Art Bank and Government Art Bank collections with works owned or borrowed by the participating museums. The two exhibitions will feature a total of 178 works: 132 from the Art Bank and Government Art Bank collections and 46 owned or borrowed by the participating institutions.

First to open, on Oct. 9 at Gallery 2 of the Soma Museum of Art in Seoul Olympic Park, "Colony: Six Gardens" explores the expansion of contemporary sculpture, which has become difficult to define in a single way, through the concept of a "colony."

The exhibition will present more than 80 sculptures, media works, installations and drawings by 48 artists, including Kim Kira, Kim Byeongho, Na Jeomsoo, Shin Geonwoo, Jung Jungju and Choi Sooang. It combines 55 works from the Government Art Bank and Art Bank collections with around 30 borrowed works, showing a landscape of contemporary sculpture shaped by works in different forms and materials interacting with one another.

The Soma Museum of Art is based at Olympic Sculpture Park, established to preserve the sculptures that form part of the artistic legacy of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and to promote their value. The museum currently operates both an outdoor sculpture park and indoor exhibition spaces. This exhibition connects the museum's sculpture-centered identity, developed over time, with works from the Art Bank collection.

"Sculpture Map: The Unfolding Atlas" will open on Oct. 13 at the Gimhae City Kim Young-won Museum of Art. The exhibition brings together 14 works by Kim Young-won and 77 works by 64 artists from the Art Bank and Government Art Bank collections, including Kwon Daehoon, Kwon Osang, Yoon Suknam, Jung Hyun and Hong Soonmo, offering a view of the diverse experiments in contemporary Korean sculpture. The exhibition features 65 artists in total and more than 90 works.

Opened in April, the Gimhae City Kim Young-won Museum of Art holds 296 works, including the original model for a statue of King Sejong, donated free of charge by sculptor Kim Young-won. The exhibition focuses on placing Kim's sculptures alongside works by contemporary artists to unfold the history of Korean sculpture like a "map."

The two exhibitions were co-curated by curators from the respective museums and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. While the Art Bank's previous programs focused on lending works to institutions and supporting individual exhibitions, this initiative expands that approach by combining public collections with the spaces and collections of regional museums to create exhibitions tailored to each institution.

"This is a new effort to connect works from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Art Bank and Government Art Bank collections with the spaces of each museum," said Yoon Tae-wook, acting director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. "We will work to bring public artworks to more visitors and to ensure that cooperation among museums leads to a wider range of exhibition experiences."

"Colony: Six Gardens" will run at Gallery 2 of the Soma Museum of Art through May 30, 2027, while "Sculpture Map: The Unfolding Atlas" will be on view through the same date in Exhibition Hall 2 of the Gimhae City Kim Young-won Museum of Art.

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