MMCA’s new project breaks traditional concept of family dealing with queer community

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) is hosting an exhibition “2020 MMCA Asia Project: Looking for Another Family” until August as part of the Asia Project, focusing on Asian contemporary art.

The exhibition, “2020 MMCA Asia Project: Looking for Another Family” looks into different forms of families, breaking away from the conventional definition of biological or martial relationships, showcasing 15 artworks from 15 artist teams across eight Asian countries: South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China.

The queer community, a marginalized community that has been a rare subject at the state-funded museum, is part of the exhibition shown through the artworks by Lee Kang-seung and Dew Kim from South Korea.

Lee Kang-seung’s new project “Imaginaries of the Future” lets audiences explore “queering” at a lounge where drawings, books and videos on queer community coexist.

Dew Kim explores the concept of “queerness” through the perspective of Shamanism, a religion associated with North Asia and was often denigrated as the “Black faith” by western culture. Kim titled his new project “The Old and Wrong Way of Seeing Things,” borrowing a derogatory description of Shamanism.

The exhibition, which opened public on Friday, will run until Aug. 23 at MMCA Seoul venue. Visitors are required to make a reservation online through the MMCA website as the number of visitors are limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The exhibition is part of MMCA’s Asia Project that started in 2018 to explore Asian contemporary art. “2020 MMCA Asia Project: Looking for Another Family,” is the second edition of the project after the exhibition “How Little You Know About Me” in August 2018.

“’Looking For Another Family’ is an opportunity to introduce the diversity and dynamicity of Asian contemporary art to Korean and overseas audiences,” said Youn Bummo, director of the MMCA. “At this time of COVID-19 pandemic, the innovative works of the Asian artist in this exhibition and their collaboration will hopefully propagate the spirit of social solidarity and coexistence to the world.” 

By Park Yuna  (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)