MUSEUMS AGAINST THE CLIMATE CHANGE

국립현대미술관

In April 2022, Youn Bummo, director of The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), published a strategic report in which they announced the 2022-2024 vision for MMCA. In this report, it is stated that during the next 50 years, museums will have to keep up with the pace of society and it is necessary to be ready for a sustainable transformation. They gathered the focal points of this transformation under four main headings: "Expansion and Connection, K-art, Ecological Museum and Digital Innovation". It is underlined here that what is envisaged in the report for the MMCA is an "open museum". There is talk of an "open museum" that will serve as an intercultural bridge, not only for Korea, but also internationally and the virtual world -the metaverse-. 

"An open museum that bridges regions, generations, and the world."

MMCA's The Museum-Carbon-Project 
2022.8.19-10.30.

The Museum-Carbon-Project, which was opened by MMCA in August, is not only in the scope of the exhibition but also brings together various projects, discussions and workshops with its visitors. There is a wide variety of different activities related to the production of artworks, employee commuting and business trips, packaging and shipping of artworks, construction of exhibition spaces, exhibition construction including production, PR materials, energy use in exhibition areas, transportation of visitors and disposal of exhibition waste projects (presentation, discussion, workshop) were derived and developed. The process of creating the program is that we need to question climate change in the Anthropocene, and that as a museum, each of us, as art professionals, evaluates an exhibition only on its aesthetic achievements, its effects on art ecology, the number of visitors and satisfaction level, and neglects the environmental impacts that arise when putting the exhibition together. And it has emerged with the emphasis that we can no longer continue by ignoring this situation. Here is a multidisciplinary museum project program that questions our attitudes, judgment criteria and perspectives! It is just one of the critical points that every museum should stop and evaluate. Of course, it will be important to touch on different points in many areas of museology such as air conditioning in museums, preventive preservation, visitor surveys and organizing special events in museums.

Photograph: The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA)
Beyond the program, the website created for the program and the design elements used in the exhibition design also attracted our attention. Collaborating within the scope of the exhibition phase of the project, Grape.Lab is a sustainable design laboratory that conducts various experiments to solve environmental and social problems in terms of design. Focusing on wasted resources, the laboratory origami style stands out by combining its method with unique folding techniques. One of its most notable products is the laptop stand. Earlier than MMCA, it had caught our attention at the National Hangeul Museum. The collaboration of museums with sustainable design laboratories is a gorgeous detail! The website of the project was primarily created in accordance with certain guidelines in website development, from graphic design to coding, and details are included in this regard.

Here are those details:

Website Design Guideline

• The website should be designed and utilized using a tool that minimizes communication resources. (ex: Figma, Framer, etc.)
• The use of images and videos should be minimized. If unavoidable, the filename extensions and file size of the visual material will be limited. (Image: WebP / moving image: apng / video: links to external services such as YouTube or Vimeo)
• Vector-based graphics that use codes, such as svg, apng are utilized in place of images.
• To reduce power consumption, a design that minimizes the white screen is recommended. (This can save up to 60% power.)
• System fonts are recommended. (If unavoidable, use external services, such as Google fonts.)
• Minimize the type of fonts used on one page.
• Make the user’s visit to the website simple and intuitive. (Prevent the user from staying unnecessarily long on the website.)
• A design that is optimized for mobile devices is recommended. (The power consumption of mobile devices is much smaller than desktop computers.)
• Do not design a page that users will seldom visit.
• Try to avoid unnecessary visual effects that use complicated codes.

Website Development Guideline

• Use an eco-friendly hosting company.
• Write codes that make website maintenance easy.
• Optimize the search engine so that the user can easily find information.
• Use a Tree-shaking tool to find codes not used in JavaScript and delete them.
• Use the Purge CSS tool to delete unnecessary tools.
• Enable caching to minimize unnecessary request for images and texts.
• Prioritize html and css in developing the website. (Use JavaScript only when it is unavoidable.)
• Use Lazy Loading for the contents to minimize traffic.
• Avoid unnecessary user movement tracking codes.
• Follow the web standard.

This program has contents that museologists like us should follow closely and understand its importance in terms of research fields. We believe that the multidisciplinary museum program series initiated by the MMCA will set an example for other museums as it draws attention to "the issues that museums should not ignore for climate change". We recommend that you follow!

The MMCA Performing Arts 2022: The Museum-Carbon-Project
Organized by MMCA
Sponsored by The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Korea
In cooperation with ECOEYE
Supported by MOORIM PAPER
For further information, please visit: http://www.museum-carbon-project.org/en/