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Peek into the National Museum of World Writing Systems
  • Date 2023-04-27
  • Hit 115

Welcome to the World of Great Characters!


Peek into the National Museum of World Writing Systems


The National Museum of World Writing Systems, where you can experience the world’s and humans’ most outstanding pieces of heritage, has finally been unveiled. This museum is scheduled to open in June as a new cultural landmark that promotes the excellence of Hangeul. Ahead of its grand opening, let’s take a sneak peek at some of the museum’s main attractions.



Opening of the National Museum of World Writing Systems, the World’s Third Museum Dedicated to Characters

The National Museum of World Writing Systems provides opportunities to experience the properties and systems of characters worldwide through various methods, such as art, architecture, and media. This national museum specializing in writing systems, the third in the world and first in Korea, began construction in October 2019. The National Museum of World Writing Systems will catch your eye even before entering, as its exterior’s unique curved walls, running both inside and outside the building, embody the shape of a roll called “durumari” in Korean, which served as Korea’s representative recording medium.

The exhibition work, including the interior exhibition work, is in the final stage, while the building, which has a total floor area of 15,650 ㎡ and consists of one basement floor and two above-ground floors, houses facilities like education and research facilities, a storage room, and a multi-purpose auditorium. In particular, this museum boasts convenient accessibility given its location within Songdo Central Park. Following its June opening, the expectation is for many citizens enjoying leisure time in the park to make a visit to the museum.


Address 217 Central-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon
Scale One basement floor and two floors above ground
Composition Permanent exhibition halls, special exhibition halls, children’s museum, storage, multi-purpose auditorium, cafeteria, etc.
Total Area 

15,650㎡


1 Outdoor exhibition

2 Space for a café on the 2nd floor



1 Special exhibition interview videos

2 Permanent exhibition: Cuneiform Characters - from Prehistoric to History

3 Permanent exhibition: Latin Characters - to the World along the Sea        

4 Children’s experience room

5 Permanent exhibition: Chinese Characters - the Long History of Characters

6 Permanent exhibition: Hangeul, the Characters that Reveal the Principles of Creation


Experience the Culture of Characters

The National Museum of World Writing Systems exhibits 59 types of characters, including the first human alphabet, cuneiform, Egyptian, Latin, Arabic, and Braille (Hunmaengjeongeum). The walls of the exhibition hall are filled with relics written out in characters from various cultures, ancient writing instruments and paper, and calligraphy from multiple countries. The museum has permanent exhibition halls, special exhibition halls, a children’s experience room, and an outdoor exhibition hall. The permanent exhibition introduces The Great Journey of Letters and Civilization in Part 1 and Part 2, with the first part showing the origins and development processes for characters from each country, while the second part exhibits character culture, such as character-related printing technology, translation, records, and fonts.

The special exhibition Beware of the Length: The Future of Characters provides an opportunity to look back on the recent trend of preferring non-text communication, such as through pictures and videos, and sparks debate over the features of text and non-text media and the future of characters.

The children’s experience room is an exhibition space where children and families can experience the world’s character culture through play under the theme of “Character Trip with Kaebi.” The combined digital content will lead you to vividly experience the development of world writing systems. The planned outdoor exhibition will display works that metaphorically capture the properties and methods of characters using stones, light, and water in the space of the rooftop page wall under the theme of “Resonance.”


7, 8 Tower of Babel by Kim Seung-young

MINI INTERVIEW


 


Leader. 

Park 

Sang-hee  

Establishment Task Force for the National Museum of World Writing Systems

 

What are the advantages of Songdo International City opening the National Museum of World Writing Systems?

This museum is in the center of Central Park, one of Songdo’s most popular tourist destinations. This location will significantly help attract foreign visitors and promote the museum far and wide. Citizens visiting the park will also be able to spot the museum quickly. On the flipside, thanks to the museum’s presence, I expect Central Park to become even more renowned as a world-class healing destination


Can you share any tips for visitors to the museum?  

The permanent exhibition’s digital panels explain all the exhibits in nine languages, including Spanish, Thai, French, and Arabic, in order to help foreign visitors understand the content. The halls are also barrier-free for visitors with disabilities. Anyone can feel the artifacts in person through the tactile displays.


What plans does the museum have to welcome citizens and visitors?

In addition to publicity, we are fully prepared to create a pleasant viewing environment and provide the best services possible for visitors. We are working on many ways to raise awareness of the museum before its opening. For example, we are planning offline promotions, such as appointing public relations ambassadors, the first release of representative artifacts, and familiarization tours.


Do you have any final words for IFEZ Journal readers?

Please look forward to and support the National Museum of World Writing Systems, which opens in June. We will continue to make efforts to create synergy effects in connection with Songdo International City and will do our best to raise our museum’s status as a global landmark going beyond Songdo International City and Incheon. 

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