(C) Gwangju National Museum

GWANGJU, South Korea—The long-awaited Ceramics Culture Center at the Gwangju National Museum, a project championed by the Honam region, is finally complete and set to open its doors on December 18, two years after construction began. This major expansion, achieved with a total project cost of 30.1 billion won (25.9 billion for architecture and 4.2 billion for exhibitions), will establish the museum as a significant hub for ceramics culture in South Korea.

The new center will house over 7,000 pieces of pottery, including a vast selection of artifacts recovered from the Sinan shipwreck, as well as significant collections of Buncheong (Stoneware with celadon glaze and slip decoration) and Baekja (White porcelain). This permanent exhibition provides visitors with a comprehensive and singular view of the historical development of Korean ceramics.

A Journey Through Korean Ceramics

The two-story center, covering a gross floor area of 7,137 square meters, features three permanent exhibition halls on its first floor: the Korean Ceramics Hall, the Sinan Seabed Ceramics Hall, and the Digital Art Zone.

The Korean Ceramics Hall will display approximately 550 artifacts, including relics excavated from kiln sites in Sadang-ri, Gangjin, and Chunghyo-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju. Key items on display include the National Treasure, Celadon Gourd-Shaped Bottle with Inlaid Peony and Chrysanthemum Design, and two additional Treasures: Celadon Wine Ewer in the Shape of a Dragon-Headed Turtle and White Porcelain Octagonal Water Dropper with Underglaze Blue Landscape Design.

The Sinan Seabed Ceramics Hall is dedicated to the 14th-century Yuan dynasty trading ship, which sank off the coast of Sinan in 1323 and was discovered in 1975. The hall vividly chronicles the underwater excavation process and showcases the recovered trade goods. Artifacts such as the Celadon Female Figure, Pleated Jar, and dishes with poetic inscriptions offer invaluable insights into maritime exchange and ceramics culture across East Asia during that era.

Immersive Experience and Cultural Hub

The visitor experience is enhanced by the Digital Art Zone, which features a massive 60-meter-wide panoramic screen. To commemorate the opening, the zone will screen the high-resolution immersive film, Memory of the Earth, Blooming into Light, alongside other video content focused on Buncheong ware.

Beyond the exhibitions, the second floor is dedicated to visitor comfort, featuring a stone sculpture garden, a museum shop, and a café. This emphasis on creating a space for reflection and leisure underscores the museum’s goal to transition from a simple repository of artifacts to a place where visitors can truly engage and linger.

Choi Heung-sun, the director of the Gwangju National Museum, stated, "We will reinterpret traditional ceramics culture from a contemporary perspective and create new exhibition and educational models linked to regional cultural resources." He emphasized the center's mission to become a leading platform for ceramics culture, extending its influence beyond Gwangju and Jeonnam to become a premier national ceramics hub.

The Gwangju National Museum, a representative national museum in the Honam region since its opening in 1978, has historically focused on local history research, exhibitions, and educational programs. With the completion of the Ceramics Culture Center, the museum's complex now consists of four major buildings, solidifying its expanded role as a research and cultural institution. The new center is poised to significantly broaden the museum's capacity for investigation, preservation, and international exchange related to ceramic culture, while actively engaging contemporary artists and the public to foster a dynamic regional ceramics platform. The center is a clear expression of the museum’s ambition to become the foremost ceramics culture platform in the Republic of Korea.

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