Bird’s-eye view of ‘Floating Museum’ ©Shinan County
The world's first floating museum is set to
open this May in Anjwa Island, Shinan County, Jeollanam-do.
The "Floating Museum" is located
near the birthplace of Kim Whanki, a pioneer of Korean abstract art, on a
reservoir in the town of Eopdong, Anjwa-myeon. The museum covers an area of 13
hectares of water and consists of five cube-shaped exhibition halls, each with
an area of 1,588 square meters, along with storage rooms, offices, and a total
of seven buildings.
The architectural design of the museum was
led by Japanese contemporary artist Yanagi Yukinori, who transformed Inujima
Island into an art island. The cube-shaped building, designed to reflect on all
four sides in the water, is inspired by the 1,004 islands of Shinan floating on
the sea and the white, square sun-dried salt.
Antony Gormley's
concept drawing for the installation to be placed on Bigeum Island, Shinan
County ©The Chosun Daily
The construction of the Floating Museum is
part of the "One Island, One Museum" project, aimed at overcoming
population decline and economic stagnation in the region. This initiative began
with the earth art museum and installation work Breathing earth sphere
by Olafur Eliasson, which was established in Docho Island last year.
The second project, the Floating Museum, is
scheduled to install artworks in April and will open to the public in May.
Later in the year, the "Sea Museum" in Bigeum Island will open with
the art work of world-renowned sculptor Antony Gormley.
References
Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.
