'Night at the Museum,' but in Seoul's MMCA

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul is hosting an all-night event called "lOgin Finale" on Nov. 10 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The event will include programs such as live performances and Hula-Hoop competitions.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Seoul branch in Jongno District, central Seoul [MMCA]

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) is hosting an all-nighter on Nov. 10.

Called the “lOgin Finale,” it will be the last event in the MMCA’s yearlong festival celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Seoul branch. Since May, a series of events involving community clean-ups to pick up trash, art film seminars, movie screenings and flea markets were held.

For the upcoming finale, there will be three programs divided into separate sessions.

The first program, which will begin at 10 a.m. on Nov. 10 and last until 6 p.m. the same day, will be held at the MMCA’s Seoul branch in Jongno District, central Seoul. The lobby will have a bulletin board on which visitors will be allowed to freely write messages about their memories at the museum over the past decade.

There will also be a free photo booth and a classical piano performance by pianists Chin Soo-young and Chon Yong-jun.

A curator-led tour of the museum will be held twice that day, which will look into the hidden and unknown spaces of the MMCA’s Seoul branch and its history.

Outside the building on the museum grounds there will be three stations for Hula-Hoop competitions.

Following the daytime program, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. there will be a screening of filmmaker Jang Min-seung’s 45-minute video “Arcadia” (2015-17), and a live performance by music composer Jung Jae-il, who produced the soundtrack for the short film. Jung was the music director for the Oscar-winning film “Parasite” (2019) and the hit Netflix series “Squid Game” (2021).

After the movie screening and music performance there will be a special seminar session featuring both Jang and Jung.

For the last part of “lOgin Finale,” from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next day, the MMCA’s Seoul branch will hold its ongoing exhibit “One Hundred Years of Travels.”

The show displays five of the latest works of multimedia artist Jung Yeon-doo, as part of the museum’s annual partnership project with Hyundai Motor in which it chooses a prominent artist or art team each year and holds their solo exhibition.

There will also be dado (tea ceremony) and poem reading programs as well as movie screenings.

All of the aforementioned programs require reservations on the MMCA website. Some may require admission fees and most operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

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