MMCA names Kim Sung-hee as new director

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) named Kim Sung-hee as its new director, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday.

Kim Sung-hee, the newly-appointed director at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art [MMCA]

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) named Kim Sung-hee as its new director, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday.

Kim will receive her certificate of appointment on Friday and begin her three-year position on Monday.

Kim has been active in the Korean contemporary art scene, in terms of curating exhibitions, promoting art education and discovering new artists. Some of her notable works include curating the special exhibition at the Gwangju Biennale in 2000 and taking the helm of the Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale in 2007 as artistic director.

She was a professor of art planning at Hongik University’s graduate school of art and has experience being in the MMCA’s operational advisory committee. Kim is a founding member and was an executive director at CAN Foundation, a local nonprofit art center that supports emerging artists.

In April, MMCA's previous director Youn Bum-mo resigned from the position, and since then Park Jong-dal, the head of the MMCA's planning and organization team, had been serving as the acting director.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]