The National Folk Museum of Korea Paju is putting all 346 folk artifacts from the North on the six faces of its open storage tower. Unlike a special exhibition that goes up for a set period and then comes down, this is a permanent display. It is the first time that household objects from the North can be seen together in one place at this storage facility in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
The route is simple. One circuit of the tower takes you past the six faces in turn. Unlike a display that sets each piece on a pedestal with a label attached, the 346 objects come into view as a mass.
The artifacts are placed beyond arm's reach. Glass and metal shelves form layers, and the light level has been kept low. The condition visitors find most frustrating is the same condition that keeps the artifacts intact for a long time. The open storage facility operates with that trade-off in plain sight.
The 346 pieces are objects that came out of daily life in the northern regions before the division.
Household life in the South and the North went its separate ways after the division, and the everyday culture of the North was pushed into a field treated in the South only through documents. For displaced people it becomes something to measure their memories against, and for generations born after the division it becomes physical material from outside the textbooks.
The National Folk Museum of Korea keeps this open storage facility in Paju and uses its holdings for both storage and public viewing. The permanent display of the 346 pieces is a case of expanding that operation.
Visitors can go on the opening days of the National Folk Museum of Korea Paju. To see all six faces, it is better to set aside time for a full circuit of the tower.
The 346 objects once used in kitchens and on wooden floors in the North sit on shelves stacked layer upon layer. No exhibition period has been set, so they can be seen any time the museum is open.
Event Information
Date: Permanent display (on the opening days of the National Folk Museum of Korea Paju)
Venue: Open storage tower, National Folk Museum of Korea Paju, Paju, Gyeonggi Province
Organizer: National Folk Museum of Korea
