Future Sea Overflowing with the Island Culture Jeju National Museum

CURRENT

by SUH JINSEON Associate Curator, Jeju National Museum From November 26, 2021 Jeju National Museum

From November 26, 2021Jeju National Museum

The Jeju National Museum, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021, completed the expansion in November the same month after three years of work. The Special Exhibition Hall was expanded as it had grown too small, and the Children’s Museum and Immersive Space were newly constructed to create a multipurpose cultural space.

The expanded museum building has a floor space of 4,494.0 m2 with one basement floor and two floors above ground that house the Special Exhibition Hall, the Children’s Museum and education room, and the Immersive Space. It is also equipped with convenience facilities such as a large lobby for rest and relaxation, a cafe, and infants’ lounge. These facilities will serve as a place for healing and social interaction that local residents and visitors can visit at any time they want to recharge. The special exhibition Jeju National Museum Goes with Jeju, commemorating the museum’s 20th anniversary, opened around the same time.

Taking the opening of the new spaces as a turning point, the Jeju National Museum plans to look back on Jeju Island’s history while also looking into the future, and continue its footsteps as a museum that is vibrant and alive and a part of the regional society.

Hands-on activities in the Children’s Museum with the stories about the lives of Jeju Island people

Children’s Museum— Everything about Jeju Islandwith the Innocence of Children!

Five Areas for a Hands-on Experience of Jeju Island’s Nature and Culture

The Children’s Museum has been designed to give children hands-on experience that will help them understand the stories of the lives Jeju Island people set against the island’s mountains, fields, and seas. The museum opened under the theme “Hi there, Jeju!” so that visitors can approach Jeju Island’s nature and culture as if greeting someone for the first time as easily as if they were a friend.

The Children’s Museum is divided into five areas—Meeting, Climbing, Playing, To the Sea, and Sharing—where visitors get a hands-on experience of Jeju Island’s nature and culture. “Meeting” introduces the unique natural environment of Jeju Island, much of which has been designated as an Absolute Preservation Zone. “Climbing” stimulates children’s imagination with the legend of Grandma Seolmundae, the giant goddess who created Jeju Island, against the setting of Hallasan Mountain and Baengnokdam (White Deer Lake) on top. “Playing” gives children the chance to experience life on the island and empathize with the people, making use of features such as Jeju Island’s stone walls around fields, pigsty, and vegetable gardens surrounded by stones. “To the Sea” is a place to experience the busy lives of the haenyeo, the women divers of the island. Finally, “Sharing” inspires children to think about ways to protect the mountains, fields, and coastal waters of Jeju Island and hand them down to posterity. The Children’s Museum is mainly for children aged six to ten and can be visited individually or families.

A family having fun at the Children’s Museum

Immersive Space—Fantastic Immersive Contents to Be Enjoyed

Surrounded on All Sides by the Fantastic Media Artwork “Drifting in the Sea, Dreaming of What Lies Beyond”

Hug By Lee Jungseop Drawing on tin foil Lee Jungseop Art Museum

A huge touch screen

The Immersive Space is a room where The immersive video titled “Drifting in the Sea, Dreaming of What Lies Beyond” visitors can enjoy varied immersive contents on the theme of Jeju Island’s history, culture, and nature. The first video produced to mark the opening of the immersive space is “Drifting in the Sea, Dreaming of What Lies Beyond,” a media reinterpretation of the contents of the book Record of Drifting in the Sea (Pyohaerok) written by Jang Hancheol in 1771, which is in the collection of the Jeju National Museum.

On the giant screens covering the walls and the floor, the rough seas rage as a ship drifts and exotic scenes of the strange world experience by the scholar Jang Hancheol unfold. It is a fantastic video art piece to be enjoyed, filled with scenes of Jeju Island’s culture and history.

Paintings of Shamanistic Spirits and Portrait of Jeju Person on display

Special 20th Anniversary Exhibition—“Continuing” and “Weaving” Jeju Island and Museums Together

Items from 16 Public and Private Museums and Art Galleries of Jeju Island Gathered Under the Same Roof for the First Time

The special exhibition Jeju National Museum Goes with Jeju was organized to “continue and weave” Jeju Island and its museums and art galleries together to mark the 20th anniversary of the Jeju National Museum. The two most important elements comprising a museum are the “collection” and “people.” In the exhibition, visitors can see the major items donated or entrusted to the Jeju National Museum by more than 50 people and learn of the stories those artifacts have to tell. Though each item may have a different meaning, the thoughts and feelings of the people who donated them are all equally valuable and will hopefully remain unchanged in the future.

Over the past 20 years to this day, the Jeju National Museum has carried out a wide range of projects. During that time, many public and private museums were established on the island and their activities have played a large role in making Jeju Island what is today. In moving toward a new future, the Jeju National Museum and other museums and art galleries on the island will be working together in various ways. The current special exhibition, which brings together sixteen public and private museums and art galleries of Jeju Island for the first time, is the first such project. The exhibition features Calligraphy by An Jung-geun (Treasure), Paintings of Shamanistic Spirits (National Folk Heritage, collection of Jeju National University Museum), and works by many artists who love Jeju Island.

Painting of Shamanistic Spirits, Jeseok Late Joseon Dynasty Color on paper Jeju National University Museum Calligraphy by An Jung-geun 1910 Entrusted to the Jeju National Museum by an individual Treasure

Painting of Shamanistic Spirits, Jeseok

Late Joseon/Dynasty Color on paper /Jeju National University Museum

Chief curator's old desk and some posters for the special exhibition at the Jeju National Museum in the past 20 years