“For an art museum to communicate with citizens through the language of art and be loved, it must be warm and full of life,” says Choi Eun-ju, Director of the Daegu Museum of Art. She emphasizes that what matters more than the size of the museum is how closely it is connected to the lives of local residents and how many opportunities it provides them. True to her wishes, the Daegu Museum of Art is filled with exhibition planning that allows citizens to participate directly, and by cherishing the spirit of Daegu, it is becoming deeply etched in the hearts of the citizens as a precious local art museum.

It is said that one must visit Daegu to curate a project on modern Korean art. What significance does Daegu hold in the history of Korean art?

During my ten years as director of the Deoksugung Museum of Modern Art, I visited Daegu whenever I organized projects related to modern Korean art. Daegu is a place where pioneers existed and where their movements were always stirring. Voluntary cultural and artistic activities began here starting with the 'Gyonam Siseohwahoe,' founded by calligrapher Seo Byeong-o in 1922. Most importantly, while many regions lost their artworks after the Korean War, Daegu suffered less damage, allowing the works of key artists held by collectors to be well preserved. Furthermore, the exchange between artists who fled to Daegu during the war and the local artists fostered even richer artistic trends. Daegu holds immense significance not only in the history of modern art but also in the history of contemporary art.

When you began your term in 2019, you emphasized the need to establish an 'exhibition planning system' for the Daegu Museum of Art.

The global art world is incredibly complex and multifaceted. Rising star artists are born, masters pass away, and new artistic movements emerge. Exhibition planning is the task of extracting creative subject matter from this whirlwind to present something unique and distinctive. Upon visiting the Daegu Museum of Art, I felt that the exhibition planning aspect was lacking. We need to discover subject matter suitable for our museum, but because there was no system in place, many ideas remained just solitary thoughts. So, I established a platform called the "Exhibition Meeting." Through these meetings, we enabled the generation of ideas, mutual assessment of proposals, and even discussion and evaluation. Now that the system is established, we have already largely completed planning for 2024.

Director, what do you consider to be good exhibition planning?

"It is a 'creative project.' I believe that creativity manifests based on the databases we already possess. The exhibition *Time and Land*, held last year, is a good example. We aimed to capture the journeys and triumphs of Daegu artists who shaped an era alongside a history of hardship, as well as the artistic ideals and zeitgeist they envisioned. Because this exhibition highlights Daegu's regional characteristics and embodies its history, only the Daegu Museum of Art could pull it off. Furthermore, holding a large-scale exhibition like this generates endless possibilities for future projects. Thanks to *Time and Land*, we were able to host an exhibition of works by three artists—Lee In-sung, Seo Dong-jin, and Jeon Seon-taek—at the Korean Cultural Centre in Ottawa, Canada. It was a particularly moving experience as it marked the first overseas expansion of modern art from Daegu."

The art museum faced a crisis due to the pandemic, including prolonged closures. How did the Daegu Museum of Art plan to overcome this period?

If this had been a disaster I was facing for the first time, I might have been thrown into confusion. However, having worked at the art museum, I have experienced many disasters, including MERS, H1N1 flu, and the Sewol Ferry tragedy. I know exactly what we can do and what we need to prepare. The Daegu Museum of Art immediately jumped into action to expand its online programs, which had been lacking compared to its offline offerings. We produced a program called "My Art World" for our YouTube channel. It is a video format where artists directly discuss their artistic worlds and open their studios to the public, and dozens of artists have participated so far. It was a meaningful project because it allowed art enthusiasts to satisfy their curiosity and enabled artists to build their own archives.

At the same time, you also created 'immersion' in offline content.

We poured all our efforts into developing 'Immersion,' a realistic and immersive content series. This project was initiated after being selected for a public competition by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and we produced a total of six pieces utilizing the Daegu Museum of Art's collection. It vividly conveys the lives and artistic worlds of artists through technologies such as 3D holograms, interaction, and artificial intelligence. Visitors can enter a space surrounded by screens on all sides and experience specific elements of the artworks through their senses. With touch-responsive wall technology, ink spreads black with every touch, and an apple falls to the floor when touched—essentially bringing existing artworks into the public eye by wearing a digital cloak. The response was incredibly enthusiastic as soon as it was unveiled.

I noticed you actively participate in events as well. I was surprised to hear that you even act as a docent yourself at the <Daniel Buren Solo Exhibition>. It seems like a rare experience for both the director and the visitors.

I started working as a curator in 1989. That time is truly precious and important to me because I can immediately see what stories visitors are reacting to and paying attention to right on-site. Above all, the job of a curator does not involve repeating the same tasks. Since I prepare a different exhibition every time, it always sparks new positive stimuli and curiosity. Also, to become a window connecting artists, artworks, and visitors, I must study more intensely than anyone else. I think this appeal is what keeps me standing before visitors. Whenever I give a docent tour, more than double the number of people who booked show up, so I feel a sense of gratitude and responsibility.

You said, “A museum speaks through its collection.” Among the Daegu Museum of Art’s collection, which work do you feel most attached to, or which piece would you like to showcase?

These are works by Lee In-seong, the most famous artist born in Daegu. We strive to acquire his works whenever they become available on the market. We previously held seven pieces, but thanks to a donation of seven from the 'Lee Kun-hee Collection,' we now possess a total of 14. This has allowed us to become the public art museum with the largest collection of Lee In-seong's works in the country. Furthermore, the Daegu Museum of Art is a museum that actively collects works by renowned international artists. It is important to properly acquire works by global masters. We also hold works by Yayoi Kusama, Zhang Xiaogang, and Tim Eitel, who have exhibited at the Daegu Museum of Art. In this way, we aim to continue expanding the museum's reputation by collecting important works from the history of modern and contemporary Korean art, centered on Daegu, alongside excellent works from around the world, in a balanced manner.

It has been over 10 years since the Daegu Museum of Art opened in 2011.

There are certain things I have set out to accomplish during the three and a half years since taking office. These include the 'Exhibition Planning Meeting' for creative exhibitions, the revitalization of the 'Collection Research Team' focused on researching the collection, and the establishment of an 'Archive Center' to archive Daegu art, the Daegu Museum of Art, and the Lee In-sung Art Prize. In particular, the Lee In-sung Art Prize, which is over 20 years old, is the largest-scale project in Korea that also includes exhibitions; it is crucial for continuously supporting and discovering artists in Daegu and for understanding the trends of contemporary art. Furthermore, having laid the groundwork for the museum's 'digital evolution' based on this database, I hope we do not stop this work but continue to maintain the system with a spirit of improvement.

You have lived in Daegu for over three years. What are some of the city's charms that you may not have realized when looking at it from the outside?

I feel that Daegu is a city where tradition and modernity coexist. It is a city that harmonizes tradition and modernity well, as it maintains many traditional elements within the city and has a very high enthusiasm for contemporary art. For example, there is a monochrome painter who works with paper; if you delve into their work, you find that they are directly inheriting the traditions practiced by the old Hanji artisans. Perhaps because they refine their artistic attitude through traditional philosophy while pursuing modernity, it seems that many talented artists are emerging. Rather than a modernity that ignores or abandons tradition, you can often find artists who create something new of their own based on tradition.

Maker's Pick

3 Works by Western Painter Lee In-seong Proposed by Choi Eun-ju, Director of the Daegu Museum of Art

'Landscape', oil on canvas, 44.5×51.5cm, 1930s

Dating back to the mid-1930s, this masterpiece captures the simple daily life of one's hometown. This work was also donated to the Daegu Museum of Art through the 'Lee Kun-hee Collection.' Blue mountains towering above golden fields, with three or four houses nestled between them, evoke a tranquil and lyrical landscape. The relatively subdued colors and brushstrokes convey the sentiment and imagery of the local character of Joseon.

'Apple Tree', oil on canvas, 91×116.5cm, 1942

A work depicting apples hanging so abundantly that the branches bend under the weight, each catching the sunlight and displaying a beautiful color. The painting, originally entrusted to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, was redeposited to the Daegu Museum of Art in 2012 by its original owner, Myeongdeok Elementary School in Daegu. One can feel the affection of Lee In-seong for apples, which symbolize Daegu.

'Portrait of a Woman in Yellow', watercolor on paper, 75x60cm, 1934

This work dates from the period when Lee In-seong's watercolor skills were at their peak while he was studying in Tokyo, and it became known to the world through the 'Lee Kun-hee Collection'. The model wearing the yellow dress is Kim Ok-soon, a modern woman who was in Tokyo majoring in fashion design. The two fell in love through art and later got married.