"We Protect Against Pest Damage"... Ulsan Museum Offers Cultural Heritage Fumigation Service

Free Disinfection Support for Paper and Textile Cultural Properties Privately Held in Ulsan Region

A project to provide ‘fumigation’ treatment for cultural properties owned by individuals is being carried out in Ulsan.

The Ulsan Museum announced on the 9th that it will conduct the ‘2023 Free Fumigation Support Project’ targeting cultural properties owned by individuals and small-scale public and private institutions in the Ulsan area.

The support targets organic cultural properties among movable cultural assets, including paper items (books, documents, photographs), textiles (clothing, leather, shoes), paintings (scrolls, folding screens), wooden items (furniture, household goods), and crafts (woodcraft, straw craft, paper craft, etc.).

The application period is from the 13th to the 23rd of this month. After a phone consultation, the artifact owner must bring the artifacts directly to the Ulsan Museum for registration. The fumigation will take place over four days from November 27 to 30.

After fumigation, the cultural properties will be returned packaged in safe storage boxes with insect repellent to prevent further biological damage.

Guidance on storage methods and management plans by material type will also be provided to help ensure proper care at home.

Fumigation refers to a preventive treatment that kills insects and sterilizes organic cultural properties vulnerable to biological damage, minimizing harm from mold, wood-boring insects, and other pests.

Since it requires specialized equipment and personnel, it is difficult for individuals and small-scale public and private institutions to carry out on their own.

An official from the Ulsan Museum said, “We support fumigation for the safe preservation and management of local cultural properties,” adding, “We hope this will be a good opportunity to raise Ulsan citizens’ awareness of cultural property preservation, and we will continue the free fumigation support project in the future.”

The Ulsan Museum has been conducting fumigation once a year for 11 years since 2013 to preserve local cultural properties.

So far, 22 individual owners and 15 institutions have entrusted their artifacts for fumigation. A total of 1,749 items have been fumigated, including 1,287 paper and old books, 169 wooden items, 25 paintings and calligraphy, 135 textiles, 106 bone and horn artifacts, and 27 other items.

Fumigation treatment process of cultural heritage.

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