GOV’T PLANS ON DONATED ARTWORKS BY LEE

[Anchor Lead]

The government will soon announced a plan to build a new museum for the artworks donated by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee last April. Local governments have been vying to bring the museum to their areas while art experts call for a contemporary art museum that deals only in modern era artworks needs to be established.

[Pkg]

The late Samsung Chair Lee Kun-hee had donated some 1,400 pieces of art to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The donation includes works of 20th century Korean painting masters such as Lee Sang-bum and Pyon Kwan-sik as well as Kim Whanki and Park Soo-keun who infused western painting with Korean elements. Given the size and value of the donated artworks, the government believes a separate institution must be established.

[Soundbite] Hwang Hee(Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism(Apr. 28)) : "There isn’t nearly enough museum storage space. We are thinking about building a new art museum and warehouse."

One of the candidate locations for the new museum is a site in Songhyeon-dong which was purchased recently by the Seoul city government. But roughly 20 local governments, including Busan, Daegu, Sejong and Gyeongsangnam-do Province, declared their bid to house the museum. The art world claims that a museum that deals only in the contemporary era should be separated from the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Art experts maintain that the role of the national museum which covers contemporary, modern and current periods must be divided by building a new contemporary art museum.

[Soundbite] Jung Joon-mo(Former MMCA Art Director) : "The MMCA alone deals in all three periods. That blurs the museum’s identity. Sometimes the museum holds a very modern art exhibit and other times a contemporary one."

Korea’s contemporary period was marked by colonialism, division and even political disputes. Some artists claim this should be a chance to re-evaluate the era culturally.

[Soundbite] Ahn Hyun-jung(Art Critic) : "Multiple artists have worked for it. I believe the new museum would help people understand what contemporary means."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to announce its new museum plan, including its location, as early as June 15th.