The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA, Director Youn Bummo) will
open the newly expanded and redeveloped Children’s Museum in Gwacheon on Tuesday, 4 May 2021,
simultaneously presenting You & Me ____, an interactive exhibition offering children a variety of experiences
involving free-spirited communication with art that will last until 11 December 2022.
Since director Youn Bummo took up the position, MMCA Gwacheon has developed a specialized identity as
a family-oriented museum, expanding the roles of its outdoor sculpture garden and Children’s Museum. Last
fall, it presented MMCA Artistic Playground, which centered on the three keywords “art,” “nature,” and “play,” 2
openly welcoming visiting families. This year, it will greet visitors with more diversified exhibitions and
correlated programs after renovating the Children’s Museum’s facilities and expanding its area by
approximately 330 square meters. Through this renovation, the Children’s Museum now offers a nursing
room, a rest area where families can enjoy home-packed meals, and a picture book reading room to
better accommodate children and family visitors.
MMCA Gwacheon also presents You & Me ____, an interactive exhibition dedicated to children and families
experiencing changes in their daily lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic, displaying artworks that shed light
on the everyday and the concept of “you and me” that ties us together. This exhibition offers an opportunity
for children to recognize the importance of everyday life, see outside of their self-identity to explore their
relationships with the people and environment around them, and learn about social bonds and the meaning of
community.
The exhibition is composed of three parts—“Finding Myself,” “You & Me Together,” and “Look
Around: Living Together”—and features 14 works by eight artists who explore people, places, and nature
as their subjects to discover the many meanings and tell the extraordinary stories nested within them.
Part 1, “Finding Myself,” presents self-portraits by Andy Warhol and Hong Seung-Hye that, along with a
correlated program, help us identify and understand ourselves within our relationships.
Part 2, “You & Me Together,” displays works by Lisa Park, Suh Seok, and Lee Miju that prompt us to reflect
on the voices, facial expressions, and emotions of those we spend our daily lives with—family, friends,
teachers, and neighbors—as well as the conversations we’ve shared. This section also offers a correlated
program to guide visitors.
Part 3, “Look Around: Living Together,” is set up to remind us of the places and environments that surround
us in daily life—home, school, academy, neighborhood, and playground. Works by Choi Hochul, Kim Jeesoo,
Kim Yousun, and Hong Seung-Hye plus a correlated program, nudge us to rediscover and ponder the meaning
of the spaces and environments around us.
Visitors must make a reservation in advance via the MMCA website. Correlated programs are open to all
visitors without prior reservation and will be operated in accordance with COVID-19 social distancing
guidelines.
Youn Bummo, director of the MMCA, notes, “With the opening of the newly renovated Children’s Museum,
MMCA Gwacheon hopes to rise as a central hub for children and families. The MMCA will continue to make
opportunities for future generations to be able to grow up with art and for the museum to be recognized as a
part of everyday life.”
Detailed information is available at the MMCA website (mmca.go.kr).
□ For general enquiries, please call +82-2188-6000 (MMCA Gwacheon)
