In the southern corridor area of the MOK, a new exhibition space has been created. As an open presentation room connected to the China, Korea and Japan galleries, it forms the conclusion of the museum tour for visitors.
Filled with artworks from the museum's holdings, the space is designed transregionally, encompassing all countries of East Asia, and is changed at regular intervals. The focus is on the museum's new acquisitions. The presentation concept pursues several aims. Alongside the aspect of transregionality, contemporary art of East Asia receives permanently visible presence at the MOK in a dedicated exhibition space. Furthermore, as recent acquisitions, the exhibits carry individual relevance and topicality. Their range conveys the diverse collecting interests of the museum; their joint presentation conveys the different forms of strategic acquisition through purchases, donations and permanent loans. Thus the exhibition space not least initiates a platform to thank private individuals, non-profit associations, foundations and other institutions, as well as the City of Cologne, for their support and for the trust placed in the MOK in expanding its collection. All new acquisitions are to be made accessible to the public and appropriately honored.
With maximum creative freedom, Ostasien in Bewegung enables an active dialogue between objects of different epochs, regions and genres. Thematically or materially related objects thereby come directly into encounter and exchange; likewise, differing yet interconnected generations of artists. In individual cases, examples from the museum's older holdings are drawn in for juxtaposition and interaction: currently, for instance, a Chinese tea bowl from the Southern Song dynasty (1126–1279), a landscape depiction by the Taiwanese ink artist Liu Kuo-sung (*1932) and an abstract painting by the Korean minimalist Lee Ufan (*1936). Re-examinations and re-evaluations of these objects are set in motion and demonstrate the dynamic nature of art historical writing.
The new acquisitions sharpen the collection profile of the MOK as a museum of the present and set lasting marks in the systematic expansion of certain areas: among them modern and contemporary art, art from Korea, art by women, and positions across cultures and traditions by diversely shaped artists with an East Asian connection.
The presentation is curated by Dr. Shao-Lan Hertel.