The application period for the director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) closed on the 13th, and the selection process is under way. Through a document screening and interviews to be held during August and September, the Central Selection Committee will recommend an appointment candidate. After a Senior Executive Service competency evaluation and appointment review, the final appointee will be decided.
The next director will oversee not only domestic and international exhibitions but also the survey and research of Korean modern and contemporary art, the collection and preservation of works, international exchange, and the operation of four branches in Seoul, Gwacheon, Deoksugung, and Cheongju. Expanding regional access to art, spreading the Korean art wave, and strengthening the social role of a national cultural institution—including regional development, inclusion, and sustainability—are also among the immediate tasks.
This appointment is therefore not simply a matter of replacing a single head of a cultural institution. It is a significant choice that raises the international standing of Korean art and determines the direction of the nation's cultural infrastructure. As K-culture spreads worldwide, the MMCA stands at a turning point where it must go beyond being a leading domestic institution to lead the discourse of Asian contemporary art and cooperate on equal terms with the world's leading museums.
To achieve this, the appointee should not be someone close to the government or a particular faction in the art world, but a convergent figure who combines artistic expertise, international sensibility, public institution management capability, and ethical leadership.
Lessons from Past Director Appointments
Looking back at past director appointments makes clear why these requirements are so urgent. The MMCA has experienced both political interference from outside and vulnerability in its internal governance.
Former Director A had a contract terminated in 2008 on the grounds of violating the collection guidelines and related laws during the process of purchasing a work by Marcel Duchamp. However, in 2010 the Supreme Court finalized its ruling that the contract termination was void, finding it difficult to regard the method of the transaction and the price-setting process as violations of the guidelines, and difficult to acknowledge intent to violate the Customs Act in relation to customs clearance procedures.
This case reminds us that the grounds and procedures for exercising the power to appoint and dismiss the head of a cultural institution must be strict. At the same time, art institutions must transparently institutionalize the purchasing and contracting process for works so as to reduce political misunderstanding and procedural disputes.
Former Director B, who had served as a corporate CEO and Minister of Information and Communication, took office amid expectations for management innovation, but struggled to stably coordinate the complex relationships among the National Assembly, the government, the art world, and the curatorial organization, and resigned ahead of the end of the term. This shows that general management ability alone makes it difficult to successfully operate the MMCA.
During the tenure of Former Director C, controversy arose over the diversity and fairness of exhibitions when many of the artists participating in the opening exhibition of the Seoul branch came from a specific university. The Board of Audit and Inspection later determined that the director had intervened in the manipulation of document screening results and the improper acceptance of two acquaintances in the process of hiring curatorial researchers, and requested an investigation. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism removed Former Director C from the post. This case shows that the procedural fairness of exhibitions and personnel matters is as much a lifeline of institutional trust as artistic authority.
During the tenure of Former Director D, a special audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism confirmed 16 cases of illegal and improper handling of duties. It was pointed out that the range of outside experts participating in proposals for purchasing works was drastically reduced from about 50 to 11, and that auction information was provided only to some curatorial staff, undermining the transparency and diversity of the collection process.
It was also pointed out that four exhibition-related contracts totaling around 400 million won, including services related to the Lee Kun-hee Collection special exhibition, were pursued as private contracts without objective review. There were also audit findings that the director had failed to respond appropriately even after being aware of verbal abuse and insulting behavior by some department heads.
Amid a prolonged vacancy in the curatorial director position and internal conflict that followed, Former Director D expressed an intention to resign with time left in the term. This case shows that an institution's head must bear strict oversight responsibility even when internal unfairness and improper exercise of authority are left unaddressed.
What to Learn from World-Class Museum Directors
Leading museum directors abroad have converted personal artistic reputation into the institution's sustainable capacity.
Glenn Lowry, who led the Museum of Modern Art in New York for 30 years, expanded the museum twice and strengthened its function of supporting emerging artists and experimental art. He also greatly expanded the collection and financial base, growing MoMA into a world-class contemporary art institution.
Maria Balshaw, who leads Tate in the United Kingdom, expanded the gender and regional scope of the collection to include women, the Global South, and Indigenous artists, and broadened the base of young audiences and international cooperation. Laurent Le Bon of France's Pompidou Center is pursuing a "constellation" strategy that expands domestic and international cooperation and decentralized programs even during the long-term closure and renovation of the main building.
What these directors have in common is not merely that they succeeded with high-profile exhibitions. It is that they combined artistic authority, long-term vision, organizational management, international cooperation, audience expansion, and resource mobilization, and left these not as personal achievements but as institutions.
Tate, as a public institution and tax-exempt charity, has a board of trustees that oversees policy, strategy, and major resource allocation, and the director is appointed by the board with the approval of the prime minister. It is not a structure completely separated from the government, but the board serves as an institutional buffer between the government's public accountability and the museum's professional autonomy.
Pompidou-Metz likewise has multi-layered governance in which the central Pompidou Center, the state, and regional, provincial, and city governments jointly participate in the board and operation. The structure that combines local government support, self-generated revenue, and private sponsorship is worth referencing in reducing dependence on a particular institution or a single source of funding.
Eight Core Competencies the Director Must Have
This announcement calls for the interview to assess public-service values and ethics, innovation-planning ability, expert ability, and coordination-integration ability. Such competencies should not be judged simply by the length of academic background or career. They must be verified in a multidimensional way through the candidate's actual achievements, the judgment shown in crisis situations, and the experience of innovating and integrating an organization.
Based on domestic and international experience and the evaluation criteria presented in the announcement, the competencies required of the next MMCA director can be specified in eight areas.
First, artistic expertise and the ability to produce discourse that will raise the international standing of Korean art. More important than the number of famous overseas exhibitions attracted is the ability to bring about joint research, joint exhibitions, joint publications, and collection exchanges with international museums, biennials, universities, and research institutions, and to present the agenda of Korean art to the global art world. International exchange must not remain a one-off event but be connected to the sustainable overseas spread of Korean art and the Korean art wave.
Second, institutional fairness that does not extend personal taste into the judgment of a public institution. In exhibitions and the purchase of works, the influence of particular academic ties, regions, or factions must be excluded, and the composition of review committees and any conflicts of interest must be managed transparently. Artistic autonomy must be respected, but the procedures and principles of that judgment must be explainable to the public.
Third, independence and political judgment to reject improper demands from political power and commercial capital. While persuading the government and the National Assembly of the museum's vision and budget needs, clear boundaries must be set, according to law and principle, against improper interference in exhibitions and the selection of works.
Fourth, organizational integration ability to coordinate conflicts between curatorial and administrative work, and between artistry and popular appeal. The director must not be an all-around expert who directly controls all tasks, but a coordinator who connects the capabilities of curatorial, preservation, administrative, education, public relations, and digital experts into a single public vision.
Fifth, ethical organizational management ability to prevent and respond firmly to improper personnel practices and workplace harassment. Independent reporting and investigation, victim protection, and systems to prevent retaliation must be established, and the director's performance must be evaluated not only by the number of visitors but also by employee trust, organizational culture, personnel fairness, and the cultivation of professional talent.
Sixth, strategic management ability and innovation-planning ability to operate the four branches as a single national art platform. The Seoul branch can be specialized in international contemporary art and contemporary discourse, the Gwacheon branch in collection research and large-scale, ecological, and convergence projects, the Deoksugung branch in Korean modern art and East Asian modernity, and the Cheongju branch as a center for storage, preservation, restoration, and archives. While clarifying the identity of each branch, the collection, research personnel, education and digital resources, and international networks must be organically connected.
In addition, the director must not stop at operating the four branches but must expand joint exhibitions, collection exchanges, and cooperation on professional personnel with regional public museums. Reducing the cultural gap between the Seoul metropolitan area and the regions and the public's regional right to enjoy art—
