MMCA Cheongju is Korea’s first storage-based museum. Since its opening in 2018, it has provided public access to collection storage, one of the museum’s core spaces. Unlike conventional exhibitions organized around a specific theme, Open Storage gives visitors direct access to the environment where artworks are stored and cared for, revealing another side of the museum. Visitors can move freely among the works and closely observe the materials, forms, and storage methods of sculptures and craft works from the MMCA Collection.
The 2026 reorganization introduces a refreshed selection of works, replacing those that have been on long-term display with works selected from closed storage. The arrangement of the works and visitor information have also been updated to provide a clearer understanding of the role of museum storage and collection care.
The reorganization also places greater emphasis on showing the actual conditions of museum storage. Crates used to transport and store artworks have been incorporated into the space, with some works presented as they are stored inside open crates and other crates displayed alongside them. This arrangement, rarely encountered in conventional exhibition spaces, allows visitors to see how artworks are stored and cared for after entering the museum collection.
Open Storage is both a place to encounter the collection and a space that shares the museum’s work of preserving cultural heritage for future generations. Through this newly reorganized space, visitors can experience the breadth of the MMCA Collection while gaining a deeper understanding of the museum’s role in preserving and caring for its works.
