E2024-G062

Gwangju’s Folk Culture in Museums

Narrative

Museums in Gwangju that embrace the city’s folk traditions, history, and art serve as living spaces of memory that connect different eras and cultures.

The Gwangju History and Folk Museum first opened in 1963 as the Gwangju Provincial Museum at the site of Gwangju Park and was later expanded and relocated in 1979 as the municipal folk museum when the Gwangju National Museum opened. Among its notable collections is the Armor Worn by Jeong Ji (1347-1391), a general from the late Goryeo period who wore it in battles against Japanese invaders; the armor is designated as a Treasure. The museum also preserves forty-three artifacts excavated from the tomb of Go Un (1479-1530), a Confucian scholar and painter of the early Joseon period, as well as the Printing Woodblocks for the Collected Works of Bak Sang (1474-1530), one of the most distinguished writers of the time.

Located in the Ullim-dong Art Valley, the Gwangju Traditional Culture Center, operated by the Gwangju Cultural Foundation, is a cultural complex dedicated to preserving and transmitting traditional culture while supporting the creative activities of artists. The traditional house Musongwon House, built by financier Hyeon Jun-ho (1889–1950) during the Japanese colonial period, was relocated and restored within the center’s grounds.

The Bium Museum, founded by poet and director Yi Yeong-hwa (1948- ), is a private museum specializing in everyday folk culture and the only one of its kind in Gwangju. Featuring exhibition halls themed around the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—the museum displays around 30,000 household items once crafted and used by ordinary people, conveying the sentiments and aesthetic sensibilities of Korean daily life.