On November 9, the site for the tentatively named “Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall” was finalized to Songhyeon-dong in Jongno District, Seoul.
The site for “Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall”. Photo by Aproject Company.Last April, the family of late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee has donated 23,181 works ranging from traditional Korean antiquities to modern and contemporary artworks.
More than 20,000 pieces, including some national treasures, are in the National Museum of Korea, and about 1,200 artworks are in the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul.
Exhibition view of the Lee Kun-hee Collection, MMCA. Courtesy of Korea Policy Briefing (www.korea.kr)..
The Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall is scheduled to open in 2027 with a total floor area of 30,000 m², and the currently separated collections will be put together once the building is completed.
The name of the museum will also be changed to one that reflects the wide range of the collection.
Exhibition view of the Lee Kun-hee Collection, MMCA. Courtesy of Korea Policy Briefing (www.korea.kr).
Including MMCA Seoul, more than 20 museums are located in the Songhyeon-dong area, making it easy for the Donation Hall to reach out to other museum professionals.
It is also a place with great cultural infrastructure, being home to some of the most popular tourist attractions in Seoul, such as Gyeongbok Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village, and Insa-dong. Additionally, a planned new city park is expected to attract more local and international visitors in the future.
Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism mentioned, “We will make Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall the center of crossroads where people can exchange different cultures by traversing the boundaries between East and West, past and present, and various fields.”
The museum will also provide opportunities to show the collections to a wider audience by holding exhibitions in other regions of the country.
