The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) reported a significant increase in the MZ generation’s (Millennials and Generation Z) interest in art after the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first half of 2023, the number of visitors to MMCA surpassed 1.51 million. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, the MZ generation accounted for 47% of the total visitors; this year, that number has risen to 63%. Notably, almost half of the exhibition viewers at MMCA Seoul this year were in their 20s, indicating a strong preference for contemporary art among the younger age group.

In fact, starting with the major exhibition “respectively, Peter Weibel. Art as an Act of Cognition” in the first half of the year at the MMCA Seoul, and continuing with “Watch and Chill 3.0: Streaming Suspense,” “Game Society,” and “Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea, 1960s–1970s,” each exhibition was attended by more than 70 percent of Generation MZ.

This phenomenon is analyzed to be in line with the culture of Generation MZ, such as the desire for cultural consumption and ‘selfie’ that has been curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the museum has become a place of play for young people. This is also in line with the recent trend of increasing the number of young art collectors in the MZ generation.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea positively commented, “This free-spirited viewing behavior of Generation MZ is creating a more diverse and new culture of enjoyment, lowering the threshold of art museums and revitalizing viewing.”

References

• 뉴시스, 국립현대미술관, MZ ‘핫플’로 각광…”사진발 받는 전시 풍성”, 2023.07.25