An event exploring the future of museums and art galleries in the age of artificial intelligence will be held in Daejeon.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on the 16th that it will host the 2026 Museum and Art Gallery Fair at the Daejeon Convention Center (DCC) from Sept. 18 to 20, together with the Korean Museum Association and the Daejeon Metropolitan Government.
Following events in Busan in 2024 and Gwangju in 2025, this year's fair in Daejeon will examine the cultural value and social role of museums and art galleries under the theme "K-Culture, Museums Opening the Future — Expansion, Transition and Future Orientation." It will look in particular at how museums and galleries are changing as they combine with digital technologies such as AI. A total of 151 organizations will take part, including the National Museum of Korea and other national, public, private and university museums and galleries, local governments, related agencies and companies, operating some 380 booths in all.
The fair will offer a range of museum and gallery content, including exhibition and promotional booths, free hands-on and educational programs, an immersive content zone, a tour program visiting six museums and galleries in the Daejeon and Chungnam region such as the National Science Museum and the Gongju National Museum, a counseling program for job seekers in the museum and gallery sector, talk-show programs for the general public, and traditional music performances.
The 69 participating institutions in "Museum Ieum," a regional touring exhibition project for public, private and university museums and galleries carried out as part of the "This Has Come to Our Neighborhood" project, will also join this year's fair. Visitors can see hands-on booths and special exhibitions from public, private and university institutions such as the Gimpo Tea Ceremony Museum, the Yonsei University Museum and the Thereimi Art Museum in one place.
The 20th Korean Museum International Conference will also be held, based on the fair's overarching theme of "K-Culture, Museums Opening the Future" and its sub-themes of expansion, transition and future orientation. In the keynote session, held under the theme "K-Museums Toward the World: Expansion, Transition and Future," speakers will include Yoo Hong-june, director general of the National Museum of Korea, followed by Chase Robinson, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in the United States, Bae Ki-dong, chairman of Museums and Museum People, and Jung Jae-seung, a professor at KAIST.
The culture ministry said it "will work to ensure that museums and art galleries are reborn as spaces where people can enjoy culture in their daily lives, anywhere in the country."
