The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will partly reopen on Wednesday, as new COVID-19 infection cases have sharply decreased here.

Those who want to visit the four venues of the museum -- Deoksugung, Seoul, Gwacheon and Cheongju -- and Children’s museum in Gwacheon are required to make online reservations on the MMCA’s website, choosing a date from Tuesday to May 17.

All visitors are required to wear a face mask and have their temperature checked before entering the museum. Visitor numbers will be limited to 50 to 200, depending on the venue, for the nearly two-week period. Visitors are also asked whether they have recently traveled overseas as part of the online reservation.

On Sunday, the government said more relaxed social distancing measures will be implemented starting Wednesday, as the number of new infection cases has sharply declined over the past few days. On Monday, South Korea reported no additional local virus cases.

The museum temporarily closed all its venues on Feb. 24 in an effort to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The ongoing exhibitions at the four venues include “Axis of Horizon,” “MMCA Collection Highlights 2020+” and “For You: Jenny Holzer” at the Seoul venue; “The Modern and Contemporary Korean Writing” at Deoksugung; “Korean Video Art from 1970s to 1990s” and “Diving into the Color” at the Gwacheon venue; and “Cody Choi: Venetian Rhapsody – The Power of Bluff” at the Cheongju venue.

The exhibition “Axis of Horizon,” whose preview was livestreamed on the MMCA’s Instagram channel (@mmcakorea) on April 16, features more than 70 works by 17 artists from Korea and abroad that the MMCA has newly collected. The pieces deal with understanding nature and have been organized into three sections: “The Whole of Part,” “The Volume of Phenomena” and “The Other Side of Places.”

The museum’s first calligraphy-only exhibition, “The Modern and Contemporary Korean Writing,” showcases 300 examples from Korean calligraphers from the modern and contemporary eras. They include calligraphy, engravings, paintings, sculptures and media art along with 70 archival materials. The exhibition was livestreamed on the MMCA’s YouTube channel, guided by curator Bae Won-jung for 90 minutes.

Visitors will be able to visit the museums for free during the online reservation period. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, Tuesday to Sunday.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)