Siheung City Invites Applications for 'Open-Air Museum' Candidate Hubs... Accelerating the Excavation of Local Cultural Resources

Siheung City, in collaboration with Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation, is launching a public contest to discover candidate hubs for the 2026 Siheung Open-Air Museum (Eco Museum). The initiative aims to excavate and utilize the region's unique cultural resources and everyday lifestyle culture, and applications will be accepted through May 29.

Poster for the Open-Air Museum Candidate Base Discovery Contest. Provided by Siheung City

The "Open-Air Museum" is an eco-museum project that moves away from the traditional museum format and instead preserves and utilizes the entire local ecosystem and residents’ living environment as a single museum. This project is characterized by cooperation among residents, experts, and public institutions to discover local resources and expand them through various activities such as education, exhibitions, and research.

Celebrating its 11th year in 2026, the "Siheung Open-Air Museum" has, since last year, spearheaded the "Siwha Industrial Complex Archive" project centered around the Siheung Cultural Power Plant "Chang-Gong," excavating and recording the former landscape of the Siwha National Industrial Complex. Through this contest, the city plans to expand the project by discovering new hubs based on a variety of resources, including ecological and natural landscapes, modern and contemporary architectural heritage, and local memories and lifestyle culture.

The contest is open to local-based organizations and public institutions located in Siheung City, such as cultural and artistic organizations, cooperatives, community groups, and social enterprises. Applicants must possess a business registration certificate or a unique entity number certificate. Organizations that have a space available for use as a local hub will be given preferential consideration.

Siheung City and the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation plan to select approximately four candidate hubs. The final selection will be determined by a comprehensive evaluation of business suitability, regional relevance, feasibility, and resident participation. Selected organizations will receive up to 10 million won in pilot program funding, along with project consulting, symposium participation, and opportunities to join performance-sharing events aligned with the initiative’s objectives.

Selected organizations will operate programs to excavate local cultural resources and run pilot initiatives from July through November. Afterward, evaluation of their performance will determine whether they will be transitioned into official project hubs for 2027. The project will focus on the excavation of cultural and ecological resources, operation of resident participation programs, activities based on hub spaces, and the establishment of local networks.

Kim Taewoo, Director of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "The Open-Air Museum project is a process of excavating hidden local resources together with residents and creating new cultural value," adding, "We look forward to the active participation of organizations committed to revitalizing local culture."

Applications for this contest can be submitted online through the National Culture and Arts Support System until 3:00 p.m. on May 29.

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