2021 Korean International Ceramic Biennale (KICB) "RE:START"

The Korean International Ceramic Biennale (KICB), hosted online and offline. Here is our experience at the Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum.

The Korean International Ceramic Biennale (KICB), hosted online and offline by Gyeonggi Province and organized by the Korea Ceramic Foundation, will run until Sunday, November 28, under the theme of “RE:START” at the Icheon Gyeonggi Ceramic Art Museum, Yeoju Gyeonggi Household Ceramic Art Museum, and Gwangju Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum as well as via online platform (kicb.or.kr). This year’s biennale is gaining popularity as a venue for examining the role and meaning of ceramics in the post-pandemic era while concurrently delivering messages of recuperation and hope.

Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum

Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum

The Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum is located in Gyeonggi Province’s Gwangju City, a region famous for its production of ceramics for the royal family over a span of 500 years during the Joseon dynasty. The exhibition hall is open to the public through prior online reservations while on-site admission is only available for remaining spots of the day. The museum’s exhibition hall is divided into three main areas:

1. Ceramic Culture Room

The Ceramic Culture Room has been designed to impart knowledge of ceramics—including concepts, history, techniques and information on ceramic relics—so that visitors can better understand and appreciate ceramic works. This room also provides a variety of detailed information on many traditional ceramic-making techniques ranging from earthenware of prehistoric times and the Three Kingdoms period through to Goryeo celadons, and Joseon white porcelains, as well as the structure of pottery wheels and the process of making white porcelains.

Visitors can appreciate various ceramic works ranging from different timeline

2. Permanent Collection Exhibition

The Permanent Collection Exhibition is where visitors can learn about Korean history through ceramics. The exhibition introduces how Korean ceramics have evolved by providing detailed information on the transition from Goryeo celadons to Joseon buncheong ware and white porcelains. It comprises four themes, displaying pottery used during the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, and general white porcelains used in daily life until the Joseon dynasty along with traditional furniture and modern relics.

Visitors can learn about Korean history through ceramics in the Permanent Collection Exhibition

3. KICB Gwangju Special Exhibition Ⅰ – “Cobalt Blue: Ceramics Favored by Joseon Scholars”

KICB Gwangju Special Exhibition I— “Cobalt Blue: Ceramics Favored by Joseon Scholars”—is taking place in the special exhibition hall. This exhibition is designed to shed light on the culture of ceramic works, especially white porcelains, that were favored by scholars during the late Joseon dynasty when social and economic stability enabled a strong literary revival. The exhibition comprises two themes:

The Cobalt Blue exhibition is designed to appreciate the culture of ceramic works, especially white porcelains

Part 1 The exhibition under the theme of “Pleasure of Painting Objects” illuminates the collecting interests of the Joseon scholars and their perception of ceramics in a culture of object painting through white porcelains with landscape paintings as well as blue ceramics with the paintings of traditional subjects such as the “Four Noble Plants” (i.e. plum blossom, chrysanthemum, orchid and bamboo). Visitors can also enjoy a study space equipped with stationary supplies, bonsai plants, and painting videos, as well as poems and paintings in blue and white porcelain.

Part 2 The exhibition under the theme of “Wealth with Fame, Decoration of Hope” is designed to illuminate the symbolic meaning of auspicious patterns relating to the lives of the scholars, which adorn household ceramics, and explore the value of ceramics harboring the utopia envisaged by scholars. It also exhibits “chaekgado” (paintings that feature bookshelves) together with blue and white porcelains featuring auspicious patterns from folk tales, which offer a glimpse at the worldly aspirations of the scholars hidden in the patterns of blue and white porcelains. At the end of this exhibition, visitors can experience making their own ceramics on a touch screen.

The museum offers a participating experience for visitors to make their own ceramics on a touch screen

Next, KICB Gwangju Special Exhibition II is available for viewing via the KICB's online platform. The relics introduced in the online exhibition are primarily presented through images provided by local and international museums. Through video interviews with contemporary artists and color experts, visitors can experience various perceptions of the color blue from the past to the modern era. The last program is provided through a space where visitors can have an interactive experience. Although it is an online program, visitors can join and participate in the exhibition. We invite you to enjoy art and culture through this exhibition!

Nearby Attractions

After viewing the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to take a tour of Gonjiam Ceramic Park located right next to the Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum. With interesting sculptures installed throughout the park, it is ideal for a light stroll. Also, there is an ongoing event in which you can collect stamps at mailboxes placed around each sculpture and receive a gift!

Gonjiam Ceramic Park is located right next to the Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum

Visitors can collect stamps at mailboxes placed around each sculpture in the Gonjiam Ceramic Park and receive a gift

📍 Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum

- Address: 727, Gyeongchung-daero, Gonjiam-eup, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
- Closed: Every Monday
- Hours: 10 AM – 6 PM
- Last Entry: 5:30 PM
- Admission: Free