Open Storage, the Crossroads of Tradition and Modernity

Paju National Folk Museum Storage Exhibition Platform Established
Confirmed 'Connection' Potential Through Special Exhibitions like 'Folk × Gonggi'

The most secretive and conservative space, the storage vault, is becoming more accessible to the public. It has established itself as an exhibition platform in line with the trend of 'openness.' This is the storage vault of the National Folk Museum located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. To celebrate its first anniversary, the event 'Opened! Storage Vault!' will be held from the 22nd to the 24th. Newly prepared digital media and the ongoing special exhibition 'Folk × Craft: Subtly Balanced' will be showcased simultaneously.

The National Folk Museum storage vault was created as part of the Cultural Heritage Administration's 'Gyeongbokgung Palace Phase 2 Restoration and Maintenance Plan.' Unlike typical storage vaults, it was built as an open-type facility. With an added exhibition and educational character, it has ample potential to operate as a complex cultural facility. The collection includes 120,000 items, addressing the issue of low exhibition and exposure frequency. It is special in that it shares with more people and exchanges related information.

The meaning of sharing and connection is evident in 'Folk × Craft: Subtly Balanced.' Forty-nine works by thirteen craft artists are exhibited in the storage vault. This is not a passive addition in a small corner. The boundaries between existing content and new content have been broken down, reclassified, rearranged, and recontextualized. The design maintains the grid pattern, a sculptural language, in a simple form. Additionally, bold high-chroma colors and glossy finishes create contrast, breathing life into the space.

The National Folk Museum also decorated various parts of the existing storage racks to reflect the keyword 'connection.' Traditional soban (small portable tables) with similar forms, believed to have inspired contemporary craft works, were given a mediating role, and color support bars were symbolically placed between them. The visual identity of the exhibition video is also noteworthy. A vertical video measuring 2.2 meters wide and 7.5 meters tall, connecting the ceiling, walls, and floor, is a representative example. The motion graphics, where traditional collections and contemporary craft works intersect, demonstrate the connection between tradition and modernity.

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