Open Storage Depots Gain Popularity as Unexhibited Collections Become ‘Another Exhibition’

Museum storage facilities are opening their doors to visitors in South Korea. The approach, known as open storage, preserves artifacts while turning collections that cannot fit into regular exhibitions into another form of public display.

The National Folk Museum of Korea Paju was designed as an open storage facility from the time it opened in 2021. In addition to storing artifacts, it provides interpretation, education and hands-on experiences. More than 120,000 visitors come each year.

Kim Ho-geol, head of the museum’s Department of Conservation Science, said the storage facility’s original role had gained a new function. “The original function of storage facilities, safely preserving and managing collections, has been joined by the new functions of public access and use,” he said.

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The original function of storage facilities, safely preserving and managing collections, has been joined by the new functions of public access and use.

Open storage offers visitors the chance to see far more artifacts than a conventional exhibition. Rather than viewing only the objects selected by an exhibition curator, visitors can compare a broader collection and find items that connect with their own lives.

Kim cited the case of a woman who saw an onggi jug known as an “onggi general” and remembered an identical object she had inherited from her mother-in-law and kept at home. She later donated that object to the museum. The article also notes that South Korea’s open-storage facilities began with the National Naju Museum in 2013.

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A female visitor saw the onggi general in the storage facility and remembered the same object she had inherited from her mother-in-law and kept at home.