Art World: "Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall Must Be Reconsidered from the Beginning"

A view of the site in Songhyeon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, one of the candidate locations for the Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] Some in the art community have criticized the government's plan to build the 'Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall' and issued a statement calling for a complete reconsideration.

The 'Group of People Who Want the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art' stated on the 12th, "The government's announcement to build the 'Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall' goes against the fundamentals of museology," adding, "The nature of the facility is ambiguous, and even its vision and mission are unclear."

They said, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has already suggested building a dedicated hall including storage facilities due to the saturation of storage space," and criticized, "The Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall is merely a new substitute term for the integrated exhibition hall originally conceived as a mixed concept."

They continued, "Since cultural and artistic institutions are permanent and non-profit organizations, a review of the institution's sustainability must precede its establishment," adding, "This hasty conclusion, lacking such procedures, should be reconsidered from the ground up."

Comprising 677 figures from the art community, the 'Group of People Who Want the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art' has long demanded the establishment of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art utilizing the 'Lee Kun-hee Collection.'

On the 7th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced plans to build the Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall, which will exhibit the approximately 23,000-piece Lee Kun-hee Collection donated by the Samsung family, on the site of the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, or on the Songhyeon-dong site in Jongno-gu next to Gyeongbokgung Palace.