The Hello Museum in Yeoksam-dong is Korea’s first children’s art museum. Everything in this museum is designed with children in mind: art is hung low on the wall so the children can look at it; archways are low so the little ‘uns can pass under; and small seats have been designed to fit into a brightly lit seating area.

Muted cream walls are the perfect backdrop to display the artwork that has been inspired by children. “The artists come and watch children taking classes. Then they make their works,” said Kim Ysaac, the director of Hello Museum.

Seo Eun-ae, who recently got attention at the Basel Art Fair in Switzerland, presents her version of a modern Asian landscape painting in Long Afternoon (2006), while Yim Tae-Kyu uses a double-layered technique to create quirky yet distinctly native art in I Can Fly (2007).

Interactive exercises and art classes on the second and fourth Saturday of every month aim to get the children more involved in art.

The two-hour programme enables kids to create art. From learning how to paint like Jackson Pollock with their feet and cotton ball-tipped sticks, to running through Keith Haring cutouts, kids really get to become a part of the world of contemporary art.

As the driving force behind Hello Museum, which opened on Nov 14 in 2007, Kim hopes to show original art works and to help children develop a sense of visual literacy.

"It was named 'Hello, museum!' because children these days are more individualised," she said. "And we wanted to teach them, 'Let's say hello to the world first!'"

Hello Museum's current exhibition, Hello. Into. Ink. Paper runs through May 10.

April 23, 2008