Founded to contribute to the development of Korean contemporary art by systematically conserving and exhibiting artworks created since 1910,[3] the museum's area of 73,360 m2 spreads over three floors, and has an outdoor sculpture park occupying 33,000 m2.

The motif of the architecture is that of a traditional Korean fortress and beacon mound, and the building has a unique spiral- formed interior where Dadaigseon, one of the most famous video artworks by Nam June Paik, is located.

The museum collections is around 10,000 artworks including works of contemporary Korean artists such as Go Hui-dong, Ku Bon-ung, Park Su-geun, and Kim Whan-ki.

The museum has also gathered a substantial internationally recognized collection including artworks by Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Georg Baselitz, Jörg Immendorff, Marcus Lüpertz, Nam June Paik, Nikki de Saint-Phalle, Jonathan Borofsky, and Michelangelo Pistoletto.

Other notable western artists in the donation include Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró.

[16] As the global issue of climate change brought on by greenhouse gases is getting worse, a series of multidisciplinary events under MMCA Performing Arts 2022: Museum-Carbon-Project focuses on how we should adapt to climate change through discussions, exhibition waste disposal, materials and artwork manufacture, artwork packaging, and shipping process.

IM has experienced trauma related to the Vietnam War, the women's labour movement, and the Jeju Uprising, which lead him to transform his past experience into contemporary art.

This book discusses a wide range of topics, including the practice of inclusion and the function of modern museums in relation to cultural diversity.

Shortly after its opening, members of the Korean Fine Arts Association and other artist organizations protested over the selection of art for inclusion, charging the Director, a graduate of Seoul National University, with a bias toward graduates of that school, noting that 32 of the 39 artists represented in the exhibition Zeitgeist Korea are from his alma mater.