A museum like a taciturn and reliable oldest son

A history of little things shining like one's cherished diaries

The Gyeonggi Provincial Museum is located between the Gyeonggi Children's Museum and the Nam June Paik Art Center. The former is always crowded with children on weekends as well as during the week, and the latter is popular with visitors from Korea and overseas coming to appreciate the works of the renowned artist Nam June Paik. The Gyeonggi Provincial Museum was built in Sanggal-dong in 1996, and given the year of establishment, it is the oldest of the three; however, it seems to be the least spotlighted among them.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Museum is the second provincial museum in Korea established after the one on Jejudo Island. It does have fewer eye-catching collections, such as national treasures and treasures, than national museums including the National Museum of Korea in Seoul and Yongsan, the Gyeongju National Museum, or even the nearby Ho-Am Art Museum. However, the fullness of the collection is still such that you may feel taken aback if you enter the exhibition hall with low expectations. The articles boasted by the Gyeonggi Museum include the portraits and apparel of Joseon scholars Song Eon-sin and Sim Hwan-ji, such as the Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Garland Sutra) (National Treasure No. 256), and the Chaekgado folding screens of the Joseon Dynasty.

However, the museum's real specialty is its unique collection of daily objects that record the history of ordinary people's lives: furniture used in the Joseon era or simple tools such as pencil cases, clothes, and private letters excavated from graves. In the exhibition hall, Bronze Age artifacts coexist with everyday objects including tables and radios that may have been used in our grandparents’ generation. This is where the lives of people who have resided in Gyeonggi Province accumulate in layers. Children can learn from this experience that their favorite clothes, desks, smart phones, and other things may be preserved in museums as a part of history one day.

Gyeonggi Provincial Museum has held the "Cultural Asset Drawing Competition for Elementary Students" for over 20 years. Prize-winning artwork is displayed in the corridors of museums, and the artifacts and relics in these pictures drawn by children may sometimes be more interesting than the real cultural assets in the exhibition hall. There is a novel quality in the children's drawings that dismantles the plain ideas of adults who say that "jade pottery is green, white porcelain is white, and a hanok (Korean traditional house) is built with tile and wooden pillars."

● The large garden between the Gyeonggi Children's Museum and Gyeonggi Provincial Museum has an octagonal pavilion named "Eumgojeong", and artificial waterfalls. Impromptu performances are often held on weekends on the wide brick stairs leading to the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum.

● There are many beautiful trees in the outdoor exhibition area, including the central white pine. You can admire the replicas of Gyeonggi Province's cultural assets found in various parts of the region, including the Twin Lion Stone Lantern at the Hoeamsa Temple Site. There are hands-on excavation sites for children on either side of the exhibition hall. "Sangsang Gogo", a children's experience program with the theme of unearthing the remains of the Bronze Age, is held from April to October (children 6 to 11 years; online reservation; admission fee KRW 5,000) .

● There is a woodblock printing practice room that is large enough for group viewers. You can experience printing with various woodblocks engraved with folk paintings, twelve zodiac animals, and ancient texts.

● The art shop located in the lobby sells high quality products developed by the museum such as hanji (Korean traditional paper), wrapping paper, and memo pads with traditional patterns.

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