Seoul Museum of Art, or SeMA, is a public art museum operated by Seoul City Council. In general, museums in Korea (such as National Museum) are free to all, including tourists.
There are also private art galleries such as K-Museum of Contemporary Art that you’ll have to pay entry for, often at high prices.
I do quite enjoy exploring museums in different cities that I visit, hence we paid a trip to the SeMA on one of our free weekends.
Plus point: This was the filming location for “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo”!
To be honest, I just thought the rose sculpture was very nice when I snapped the photograph below, but I hadn’t realised that it was a filming location until I Googled SEMA to write this post. Oops.
An interesting experience we had was queueing up for some product sample in front of the museum. There were cameras rolling and most importantly, free food!
This was honestly really delicious
Our SeMA experience & review
Anyway, back to SEMA!
One of my favourite museums in Singapore is SAM (Singapore Art Museum), which often refreshes its exhibitions with interesting pieces from the region.
I had previously seen a few memorable artworks from Korean artists, so I was hoping that this museum would be a good experience.
As you can see, the museum is actually pretty crowded because we went on a Saturday. Most of the museum visitors were actually locals, rather than tourists.
All the exhibits come with explanations in Korean and English. I found this very helpful, especially if you’re keen on finding out more about the artists’ backgrounds and motivations for their works.
There was a photography exhibition, but I found it a bit bare. I did wish they had shown more works that used photography as a medium, especially since there are quite a few notable Korean photographers.
It was interesting how SeMA doesn’t shy away from nudity in the art pieces displayed, and none of the visitors looked squeamish.
Is SeMA worth visiting?
The museum wasn’t very big, and we were done in about 2 hours.
I appreciated how they displayed many works from Korean artists for a local perspective. I think the sizeable turnout at the museum is also a telling sign of a deep appreciation of the arts in Korea.
Rather than taking photos of themselves or selfies at the exhibits, I actually saw many visitors discussing with one another about the works they were looking at.
Other than the usual exhibitions, SeMA also conducts educational outreach initiatives, screenings, workshops, performances, and talks.
Unfortunately we didn’t manage to catch any of them during our visit, but you can check out the SeMA website for updates before your trip.
If you have a keen interest in the arts, do include this destination in your itinerary.Actually, even if you don’t, it’s still worth coming by. I find the exhibits here much more engaging and thought-provoking than that of, say, K-Museum of Contemporary Art.
OPENING HOURS
March-October: Weekday 10:00-20:00 / Weekends & National Holidays 10:00-19:00
November-February: Weekdays 10:00-20:00 / Weekends & National Holidays 10:00-18:00
* Museum Day: First and third Tuesday of every month 10-20:00
* Last admission: 1hr before closing.
DIRECTIONS
Address: 61, Deoksugung-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 중구 덕수궁길 61 (서소문동)
For more information, visit KTO’s website here.
Related Posts:
- Museum Kimchikan: unique food museum in Seoul
- Jjajangmyeon Museum: a look into Chinese cuisine in Korea
- The National Museum of Korea: free admission for all!
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