Mercury's Old Vault Transformed into 'Geumgo Art Museum'

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Old Safe Transformed into a Small Gallery in Yeouido

The Export-Import Bank opened the 'gallery SAFE,' a small gallery transformed from the first-floor space of its former vault at the headquarters, on the 14th. From the third person on the left in the photo are Visit Gyu, President of the Export-Import Bank, and photographer Nam Jong-hyun. Photo by Nam Jong-hyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The former vault of the Korea Eximbank has been transformed into a small gallery.

On the 13th, the Eximbank announced the opening of the ‘gallery SAFE’ on the first floor of its Yeouido headquarters. The space where the old vault was located is currently unused and had been used as a storage area. It was reborn as a small gallery to inform visitors and employees of the bank about the cultural and artistic values of Korea and to provide a space for emotional relaxation.

Next to gallery SAFE, a customer consultation room was also newly installed. The consultation room is equipped with a ‘non-face-to-face consultation system’ that enables online video consultations. In addition, the gallery will be operated in line with the bank’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management by using eco-friendly and recycled materials during the artwork production and exhibition preparation processes, emphasizing coexistence with the environment.

The first exhibition commemorating the opening of the Eximbank gallery SAFE is ‘Blank Exhibition (空白展)’ by photographer Nam Jong-hyun. Nam has long captured traditional Korean objects and landscapes on traditional Korean paper (hanji) through photography.

Visiting Chairman Bang Won-kyu, who attended the opening ceremony, said, “gallery SAFE will be a precious space that nurtures the value of culture and arts, providing creativity and emotional satisfaction. I hope that this small gallery will comfort the bodies and minds of those exhausted by COVID-19.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.