(CNN) – Art has always had dangerous power. But a newly opened art museum is taking that to another level.
Its first exhibition, titled “DMZ Art and Peace Foundation 2021”, features 34 artworks by 32 artists and opens in September 2021.
“Elephant cart” is a work of Nam June Paik, the late Korean-American artist considered the founder of the video art movement.
Unification Ministry
Before becoming a museum, Unimaru was a customs clearing house where visitors went through a security check before being allowed to visit the DMZ from 2003 to 2007. It was later replaced. with a larger office.
The building was left vacant until early 2021, when architecture firm MPART – who also designed the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul – called it Unimaru. The name of the museum is a combination of two Korean words: “uni,” meaning one, and “maru,” meaning space.
Due to both security and coronavirus concerns, visitor numbers are deliberately kept small.
Up to five tour groups per day, with no more than 30 people per group, are allowed when the museum is open. Unimaru is currently on hiatus as it holds its next exhibition.
Those wishing to visit must obtain permission from South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU), the official agency promoting the reunification of the two Koreas and dialogue between the two countries.
Once approved, they will have a free ticket to Unimaru and be able to board one of the special buses that are authorized to carry civilian passengers to the DMZ.
On the left you can see the mural by Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrč “What is DMZ Land made of?”
Unification Ministry
After checking their identification, guests are escorted around the museum by doctors and staff from the Memorandum of Understanding. The employees of this Memorandum of Understanding are civilians and unarmed.
All visitors to the DMZ must follow a dress code that prohibits the wearing of miniskirts, shorts, and anything with camouflage prints.
They are not allowed to wave to anyone they can see or take pictures of anything without permission, in case they run into security problems.
Children under the age of eight are also prohibited from participating in the DMZ, regardless of their country of origin.
In 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held the Inter-Korean Summit Meeting at the “Peace House” in Panmunjom on the DMZ.
Technically, the two nations are still at war, but at the meeting, Moon and Kim agreed to move toward a formal end to the conflict. The agreement also states that both countries will remove weapons, guards and mines from the Joint Security Area (JSA).
It was the departure of the guards from some of the military’s guard posts that allowed Unimaru to display the artworks on a repurposed old watchtower just a mile from the border.
Unimaru’s exterior.
Unification Ministry
Artwork by Korean and international artists is displayed at Unimaru.
One of the most striking installations, however, is a blank canvas showing where the museum hopes to one day display work by North Korean artists.
The JSA, or Panmunjom, is perhaps best known along the DMZ for its recognizable bright blue conference room, which is the most visited tourist attraction in the area.
Former US President Bill Clinton once called the DMZ “the scariest place on earth” after a state visit there in 1993.
Panmunjom tours resumed on November 30, after being suspended in July due to South Korea tightening restrictions on Covid-19.
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