Seoul welcomes the world’s first MoMA Bookstore

MoMA Bookstore in Seoul

(Image credit: Courtesy of Hyundai Card)

Almost 7,000 miles apart yet increasingly in dialogue, Seoul and New York have just tightened their cultural axis with the arrival of the MoMA Bookstore at Hyundai Card. The new outpost marks the Museum of Modern Art’s first bookstore of its kind (beyond book sections as part of its Design Stores) and extends its two-decade collaboration with the Hyundai Motor Company-owned credit card issuer, which began in 2006 when MoMA’s online store was made available in South Korea.

Introducing MoMA Bookstore at Hyundai Card, Seoul

The partnership has since evolved into a robust cultural exchange. In 2010, MoMA introduced membership benefits for Hyundai Card holders, which later supported headline exhibitions such as ‘Haegue Yang: Handles’ (2019) and ‘Sung Hwan Kim: Temper Clay’ (2021). Most recently, the Hyundai Card Curatorial Exchange Programme (2024) was inaugurated to foster cross-continental dialogue between Korean and American art communities, while the Hyundai Card MoMA Digital Wall (2025) commissions site-specific works by contemporary artists, displayed in real time both at MoMA New York and at Hyundai Card’s Yeouido HQ.

Set in the leafy enclave of Dosan Park, the bookstore aligns itself with Hyundai Card’s constellation of cultural spaces, such as the Cooking Library, Iron & Wood and Red11. The elongated interior unfurls in two acts: a pared-back library of over 1,100 titles – including MoMA’s own catalogues and more than 200 books spanning contemporary art, photography, architecture, and design – and a boldly hued retail chamber in shades of orange and yellow. Here, shelves brim with the museum’s cult merchandise: the ubiquitous tote, New Era caps, varsity-style sweaters, and limited-edition design objects.

Anchoring the book selection are heavyweight tomes. Wallpaper* recommends Judd, offering an incisive study of American artist Donald Judd’s practice, or a retrospective on photographer and photojournalist, Walker Evans.

The MoMA Bookstore at Hyundai Card is located at 18-10 Dosan-daero 45-gil, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea.

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Sofia de la Cruz is the Travel Editor at Wallpaper*. A self-declared flâneuse, she feels most inspired when taking the role of a cultural observer – chronicling the essence of cities and remote corners through their nuances, rituals, and people. Her work lives at the intersection of art, design, and culture, often shaped by conversations with the photographers who capture these worlds through their lens.