The new museum is located at the South-North Korean border. To visit, you will need a military transport.
The Korean Demilitarized Area, or DMZ is where the ‘Unimaru” museum is located. It is the roughly 241km (150 mile) long, demilitarized land strip that runs between the North-South. The Korean Civil War brought it to existence in 1953.
This museum is the first in the DMZ and serves the mission to ‘provide a platform for peaceful unity’ via art.
The Unimaru museum, pictured, is based in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, also known as the DMZ
Above, ‘Elephant Cart’ – an artwork by Nam June Paik in Korea that was recently displayed at Unimaru
The DMZ is open to both North and South Koreans. In fact, it has been a very popular tourist destination in recent years.
The museum was located on the South Korean side, so access to it is limited.
Visitors must make reservations and request a military escort through Ministry of Unification to gain access to the free ‘Unimaru art museum.
Once the reservation is confirmed, visitors are collected by the museum shuttle at a designated pick-up point based just outside the Civilian Control Line – the buffer zone near the DMZ.
Unimaru hosted the inaugural Unimaru exhibition in October. The exhibition, titled the ‘2021 DMZ Peace Platform and Art Platform’ featured 32 artists.
According to our sources, the Inter-Korean Transit Office of Ministry of Unification will send an invitation to North Korea to participate in future exhibitions.
The museum’s purpose is “to offer a platform to peaceful unification” through art.
Hyungwoo Lee, an artist participated in the 2021 DMZ Art and Peace Platform’ with this piece entitled ‘Untitled Borderless’
The Unimaru building, originally built as an Inter-Korean Transit Office temporary office and customs inspections building in 2003. The building was demolished in 2007, and it remained unoccupied for many more years.
Hyunjun Mihn of Mpart Architects renovated it earlier in the year. This architect was also responsible for designing Seoul’s National Museum of Modern Contemporary Art.
In a statement about the ‘2021 DMZ Art and Peace Platform’, artistic director Yeon Shim Chung said that the DMZ ‘is a physical scar left on the land, a place where the brutal memories of war linger but are also redefined’ and that ‘civilian entry into the DMZ is limited for safety reasons… the numerous undiscovered landmines in the DMZ still pose a real threat in the seemingly peaceful landscape’.
She stated that the exhibit was intended to ‘construct peace and ecology zones to re-imagine Korea’s DMZ which is currently a symbol for division and war’ as well as to ‘establish artistic communities in the DMZ in commemoration of the difficult memories of the past.
A second attraction at DMZ is the Joint Security Area. This area was where Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met in 2019. (pictured).
You can take guided tours from the South of the infiltration tunnels beneath the DMZ. This is the “Fourth Tunnel”.
Also, the exhibition was hosted by the Paju Guard Post and Dorasan Station nearby as well Jejin Station (Goseong-gun) and the National Institute for Unification Education.
It is the latest in a series of exhibitions based on the Real DMZ Project. This research-led project was founded in 2011, and works together with artists and scholars to develop projects and exhibits that critically engage with the area.
A joint security area is another attraction in the DMZ. This was where Donald Trump met Kim Jongun in 2019. The Joint Security Area is a place where visitors can take photographs while standing either on the North or South side of the Military Demarcation Line. Officially, this allows you to put your foot in North Korea or South Korea.
Guided tours can also be made from the South of the infiltration tunnels below the DMZ. In an attempt to conquer the South, the North allegedly dug these tunnels which were found for the first times in the 1970s. But, the North never took responsibility for their construction.
For more information, visit dmzplatform.imweb.me/home.