Installation view of 《Heritage: The Future Fantasy》 © Korea Heritage Agency

“How should the heritage of this land be defined?”

Until now, heritage has often been regarded as something fixed in time, preserved as an object of conservation. However, heritage is not merely an object that testifies to the past; it is a cultural product of a community that embodies collective memory across time and accumulated imagination for the future. When traces of the past intersect with present sensibilities and future thought, we encounter heritage as an “old future.” At this point, heritage becomes not the end of the past, but a possibility for future imagination. 

In 2024, Korea established an institutional milestone by changing the term “cultural property” to “national heritage.” This marks a declaration to expand heritage from an object of preservation into a public asset that can be enjoyed, imagined, and reinterpreted by all citizens, while also seeking a new heritage system that encompasses cultural, natural, and intangible heritage, and even the memory and sensibility of future generations. 


Installation view of 《Heritage: The Future Fantasy》 © Korea Heritage Agency

《Heritage: The Future Fantasy》 is an exhibition conceived during this transitional period, aiming to reinterpret the concept of heritage through audiovisual and digital sensibilities enriched with technology. Based on media archives and materials accumulated over years by the Korea Heritage Service and Korea Heritage Agency, the exhibition connects the past, present, and future into an imaginative narrative. Through the “reimagination” of heritage—where physical artifacts intersect with media art, installation, and kinetic art—it presents the concept of heritage as a multilayered possibility for sustainable future assets. 


Installation view of 《Heritage: The Future Fantasy》 © Korea Heritage Agency

This exhibition reexamines the potential of Korea’s cultural, natural, and intangible heritage. The grand cultural records of Joseon Uigwe, the luminous landscapes of Korean scenery, the refined craftsmanship and spirit of traditional artisans, and the flowing imagery of connection embodied in heritage all pose questions to us:

“What memories will we inherit?”
“What kind of sustainable future will those memories enable?”

Heritage no longer remains in the past. Through digital sensibility, expanded temporality, and the integration of responsive technology and imagination, 《Heritage: The Future Fantasy》 proposes new possibilities for sustainable heritage. Here, within the time of 《Heritage: The Future Fantasy》, national heritage is not static, but is in the process of traveling toward a fantastical future. 

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