I chose to review the online presence of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA). This museum has four different branches in Seoul, Gwacheon, Deoksugung, and Cheongju. I wanted to explore how the museum could present itself as one identity but through four different locations. Through the MMCA website itself, it links to a page labelled Online Museum. It has a plethora of director talks, exhibition guides, VR tours, and online guides. Personally, the most engaging activities in the Online Museum page were the VR guides. I found being able to see a bird’s eye view of each exhibition very refreshing, and moving forward didn’t have as strong as a lurch as I am used to. I think that they are realistic enough to feel legitimate, and distanced enough from reality to the point where I am still curious about the physical space.

Aside from the Online Museum portion of the website, they also have many exhibition spaces offered through Google Arts and Culture. I personally found these stories to be extremely compelling. Some of the stories are not what you would typically expect from a modern and contemporary art museum. For the Cheongju branch, there is a photo/video essay type article, detailing past images of how the museum came to be. It originally started as a tobacco factory, and as you continue scrolling, you expose images of each floor of the museum. There is also a similar type of photo essay documenting the construction of the Seoul branch with prints from well-known Korean photographers. I find that the essay style articles about the history of the museums have more impact on me than the Google Arts and Culture tour view. The movement throughout the exhibitions is unsettling, sometimes moving through walls or jerking around. The articles on the other hand provide a view into the history of the museum that I might not have had a chance to learn about otherwise, and it makes the space that much more appealing.

The museum runs many educational programs for museum professionals, college students, office workers, and housewives. It also runs creative programs for students and teachers. It also has a program on cultural accessibility education, focusing on teaching about cultural diversity and also education catered towards people with disabilities, as well as education for out-of-school youth. Aside from educational programs they also have a residency and resources for research. I think they do a good job in terms of keeping a large variety of resources, though I do wonder how often they are taken advantage of.