What Do Museums Pursue?

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) presented the international symposium “What Do Museums Pursue?: Art, Museums, and Publicness” on December 18, 2024 at the MMCA Seoul. The symposium was designed to explore the meaning of publicness as a foundational concept for art and museums, engaging six scholars and curators from diverse fields both in Korea and abroad. While publicness is a core value underlying the societal roles of museums, it can be interpreted in various ways depending on the context. The symposium concluded successfully with an audience of approximately 280 attendees, featuring vibrant discussions among speakers, moderators, and participants.

The symposium consisted of three sessions: Part 1, The Concept of Publicness; Part 2, Publicness as the Principle of Practice; and Part 3, The Site of Museums’ Publicness. Each session featured presentations and discussions by speakers addressing these critical themes.

In Part 1, The Concept of Publicness, Kim Youngmin analyzed the concepts of “representative publicness” and “rational publicness,” proposing an alternative termed “artistic publicness”. He reflected on the political and social dimensions of publicness throughout Korean history. Shim Bo-Seon emphasized dialogue as a vital component of publicness and posed the provocative question of whether museums can act as spaces for contentious public discourse.

Part 2, Publicness as the Principle of Practice, delved into how publicness is expressed through specific museum activities. Nur Hanim Khairuddin, a curator and organizer of public art projects in Southeast Asia, presented contemporary art projects that engage with public and political spaces. Cho Seon Ryeong explored how exhibitions can foster temporary communities and examined the museum’s potential as a platform for such collective experiences.

Part 3, The Site of Museums’ Publicness, considered how the concept of publicness evolves in response to global challenges like climate change. Rodney Harrison discussed the intersection of museums and environmental issues, presenting a vision for ecological futures that public museums should actively pursue. Choon Choi reflected on the architectural practices of traditional museums, envisioning how museum design can more effectively embody public values.

The conversation from this symposium are expected to serve as a reference point for reaffirming the essential values of public art institutions, including the MMCA, and for envisioning their future directions. The discussions of this symposium will be published in Korean and English as part of the MMCA research publication What Do Museums Pursue? : Art, Museums, and Publicness.

What Do Museums Pursue?: Art, Museums, and Publicness

Part 1: The Concept of Publicness

Rethinking Representative Publicness
Kim Youngmin (Professor, Dept. of Political Science & International Relations, Seoul National University)

Can Museums Be the Contentious Public Sphere?
Shim Bo-Seon (Professor, Graduate School of Communication and Arts, Yonsei University)

Part 1 discussion and Q&A
Moderator: Kim Kyoung-woon (Senior Curator, MMCA)

Part 2: Publicness as the Principle of Practice

Weaving Contemporary Art into the Public Realm
Nur Hanim Khairuddin (General Manager, People of Remarkable Talents (PORT), Malaysia)

The Museums as a Platform for “Temporary Communities”: Notes on the Publicness of Exhibitions
Cho Seon Ryeong (Professor, Dept. of Art Culture and Image, Pusan National University)

Part 2 discussion and Q&A
Moderator: Bae Myungji (Curator, MMCA)

Part 3: The Site of Museums’ Publicness

Ecological Futures in and with the Public Museum: A Manifesto
Rodney Harrison (Professor, Heritage Studies, University College London)

Decoupling of Art and Architecture
Choon Choi (Professor, Dept. of Architecture & Architectural Engineering, Seoul National University)

Part 3 discussion and Q&A
Moderator: Lee Jihoi (Curator, MMCA)

Discussion and Q&A (all panelists)
Moderator: Kim Namin (Curator, MMCA)