Pieces of Korea in Leiden
Objects from the Korea Collection of the Volkenkunde Museum
Leiden University, Faculty of Humanities
In the Volkenkunde Museum, there are many ancient Korean objects in the showcases, as well as in the depositories. What were they used for, and do they still exist in Korea today? This area features remarkable stories from the Korea Collection, researched and chronicled by (former) students of the Korea Studies program at Leiden University. These stories show that objects more than a hundred years old often carry an interesting history and sometimes still carry a symbolic value in our time. So museum objects are not just dusty and old!
The texts in this zone were created as an assignment for the second-year course "Material Culture, Museums and Heritage in the Koreas" (teacher: Elmer Veldkamp). In it, we look at how cultural heritage, both material and immaterial, is dealt with inside and outside the country, particularly in South Korea. By putting the objects in the spotlight here, we aim to bring them back to life and make their multifaceted stories available to all. Visit the museum to see the rest too.
