Resources > Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
06 Sep 2010

Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)

Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) is the representative art museum of Seoul, the capital of Korea and a central city of Asia, that aims to be a ‘Beautiful, Good, and Smart Art Museum.’ In order to accomplish this goal, the museum has set up two major objectives: to become a world-renowned art museum and to be a museum for the city and its people. Under such objectives, the museum is making great efforts to expand and promote itself as a place for culture and the arts as well as a space for meaningful social education. Through a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that reflect a cosmopolitan sense, regional characteristics, professionalism, and popularity, the museum hopes to reach its goals.

Exhibition
SeMA is contributing to the development of Korean art circles through a variety of special exhibitions with Korean artists and international exhibitions that show the trend of art outside the country and also expanding the base of art culture through the "Communication through Art" projects.

The SeMA Blue for young Korean artists, SeMA Gold for middle-aged artists, and SeMA Green for elder artists are celebrations of Korean artists representing each generation. The special overseas exhibitions and international exchange exhibitions held with famous art museums of the world will help solidify SeMA’s international networking and provide SeMA the footing to jump up to the level of the world-class art museum.

Media City Seoul, the international media art biennale, and the residency programs of SeMA Nanji Residency for young artists around the world are also important international exchange programs that promote the internationalization of SeMA.

Also, the permanent exhibitions at the outdoor sculpture park, circulating exhibition in autonomous regions, and special exhibitions in alienated regions through the "Communication through Art" project invite visitors from outside the museum to turn the entire city into an art museum, thereby becoming an art museum that communicates with citizens and shares life with them.

Education
SeMA wishes to fulfill individual demand for learning and its role as a social and educational institute through the educational programs that offer great courses to citizens of various social strata.

SeMA's educational programs such as the SeMA Academy for the Public for citizens including students and persons with disabilities, SeMA Outreach which is a program that brings art to people, and A Date at the Art Museum which is a weekend program designed to supplement the public education following the full implementation of the 5-day school week system make SeMA the place for social education and the distributor of culture and arts for many citizens.

Collections
SeMA has a collection of 3,500 pieces of art including painting, sculpture, installation, and media as well as works from the masters in art history such as Hwan Gi Kim, Young Gook Yoo, Nam June Pai, Woo Hwan Lee, Seo Bo Park, and Myoung Ro Yoon. Comtemporary artists who are active around the world are also helping to form the identity of the museum.

SeMA establishes its collection policy through systematic diagnosis and analysis and purchases 200 or more works based on the policy every year along with the donations of precious works from the artists, the bereaved families of artists, and collectors. 200 or more popular art works donated by Gana Art as well as the donated works of Gyeong Ja Cheon and Noh Soo Park secured the diversity of the collection and are provided as excellent materials for various special exhibitions.