Art and Concept: In the Asian Context

The conceptual turn in art, marked by a shift away from an emphasis on materiality toward the importance of ideas, has become a defining condition of contemporary art. This conceptual turn reopened the very question of what art was, expanding its meaning into new artistic and social dimensions. . The conceptual turn functioned as a major shift that opened up contemporary art, redefining what art is and offering a compelling artistic mode of engaging with society.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) international symposium Art and Concept: In the Asian Context, held on August 19, 2026, presented a multifaceted discussion of the notion of "concept" within the contexts of Korea, Japan, and China. Discussions of key artists and phenomena examined by the researchers revealed the trajectories of conceptual practices under different cultural, historical, and social conditions.

Concept, as a subject, spans an especially vast terrain. The conceptual has become decisive to contemporary art, serving in effect as the very ground on which contemporary artworks come into being and generate meaning. In Part One, "Concept and Art in Korea," art historian Cho Sujin's Korean Art of the 1970s–80s as Conceptual Art examines the identity and meaning of "concept" as it emerges in the development of Korean art. Alexander Alberro (Professor, Columbia University), meanwhile, extended the context of the concept in Korean art and discusses how it evolved within contemporary art more broadly. As a visiting researcher in the 2026 MMCA Research Fellowship, Alberro spent six months in residence in Korea conducting intensive research on Korean art. His presentation, “From Concept to Research in Contemporary South Korean Art,” examined how the conceptual turn practiced in the 1970s, namely, the shift in emphasis in artistic production from materiality to ideas, subsequently moved toward research-based inquiry.

Part Two, "The Asian Context," traced the unfolding of the idea of concept through case studies from Japanese and Chinese art. The presentation of Reiko Tomii (independent scholar), “Reflecting on Global Conceptualism (1999), A Re-imagined Proposal for the Japanese Section: Five Pioneers,” offers a critical retrospective and analysis of her own experience as one of the curators behind the landmark exhibition. In doing so, her presentation reread the exhibition by bringing her present-day perspective into dialogue with the circumstances of the time. Grey Matter, meanwhile, is a research collective composed of three researchers: Yun Qiu, Xiaofan Wu, and Luqi Lin. Their presentation, “Undercurrent: Retracing the Narratives of the Conceptual Practices of Chinese Women Artists in the 1980s and Early 1990s,” centered in particular on women artists whose active creative and critical contributions had not received sufficient attention, shedding light on the relationship between concept and art and on its artistic and social workings and meanings. Alongside the discussion for Part One and Part Two, Part Three invited all the presenters and audience to the open discussion, moderated by Kim Namin (curator, MMCA) who curated this symposium. The auditorium was full of about 200 audience.

This symposium brought together discussions that cross different cultures, generations, and perspectives, approaching the subject of concept and art through a variety of converging paths. The speakers put forward compelling perspectives on the range of forms the idea of concept can take, in ways that promise to expand our own thinking. It is our hope that this symposium will not only spark stimulating discussions of art and concept and deepen understanding of the exhibition, but also broaden our understanding of contemporary art and of thought itself.