GROUP EXHIBITION

SeMA Omnibus integrates four exhibitions under the institution’s 2024 agenda, “Connection.” The exhibition highlights how the museum’s collection remains relevant in contemporary contexts and explores potentials to shape future perspectives, showcasing the possibilities and strengths of the museum’s resources.

SeMA Omnibus: At the End of the World Split Endlessly, on view at the Seosomun Main Branch from August 22 to November 17, 2024, examines how artists select and renew their mediums in response to the crises of capitalism, climate change, and the evolving media landscape of our times. The exhibition explores the inevitable relationship between artists and their works through the “medium” in a post-medium/post-media era. Demonstrating the multi-layered structure of various mediums that define our generation, the exhibition focuses on those that particularly respond to technological and social changes, such as old media and new media, the virtual and real, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the body.

Consisting of five sections—‘SeMA Collections Read through Medium,’ ‘Old and New,’ ‘Yellow Block,’ ‘Layered Medium,’ and ‘Open End’—the exhibition follows the keywords set forth by each section, examining the complex, multi-layered, and recursive aspects between contemporary art and its mediums. The ‘Yellow Block’ section introduces the latest trends amongst young artists regarding media, which is to explore the diversity of the human species and the future of plant species in an apocalyptic (near) future; to dream of human-nonhuman interaction even in the isolation of digital nature; and to show narratives of resistance through the vision of an imaginary matriarchal society.

The opening ceremony of SeMA Omnibus will take place at the Seosomun Main Branch on September 3, 2024, from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM, as part of Seoul Art Week. The ceremony will feature performances by Young In Hong and Wonwoo Lee and a panel discussion co-hosted with the Abu Dhabi Festival. The SeMA Omnibus exhibition series is anticipated to promote the essence of Korean contemporary art to domestic and international audiences through its display of the comprehensive SeMA collection.

Accompanying SeMA Omnibus, ‘SeMA Public Space Project: Coupling’ is currently on view at the Seosomun Main Branch through November 17, 2024, presenting the works of Lee Wonwoo, Choi Soo Jung, and Jang Jongwan across the lobby, window and façade of the museum. This project aims to explore the possibility of pushing the boundaries of contemporary art by bridging daily life and art while transforming its artistic (non)utility.

SeMA’s General Director Choi Eunju expressed her enthusiasm for SeMA Omnibus, stating, “As the international art scene shifts its focus to Korea, I am thrilled to present SeMA’s collection on such a grand scale after a long period of preparation. Through four harmoniously curated exhibitions, we want to emphasize that the collection does not merely exist in art history but continuously produces and renews meanings that are essential to contemporary art, as well as our world.” Choi further explained, “I hope these exhibitions will provide an opportunity to showcase new possibilities for Korean contemporary art and the museum’s collection.”