Naju National Museum: Mahan and the goods that came by sea — to 21 Feb 2027

Naju National Museum (국립나주박물관), in Bannam-myeon on the western edge of Naju, opens the special exhibition "Mahan, Meeting the Unfamiliar" on 30 October. Its question is how objects from the outside world, carried up the Yeongsan River by boat, helped the Mahan villages grow — a reading of Yeongsan River Mahan through its imported goods. It runs for almost four months, to 21 February 2027. The museum stands in the middle of the Bannam ancient tombs, so after the exhibition you can walk out to the mounds where many of these objects were found.

What is the exhibition about?

The museum's introduction is built around a route. The Yeongsan River flows out to the south-western coast, and that sea lane met the trade route running from China through the Korean peninsula to Japan. The Mahan people of the Yeongsan basin took the unfamiliar goods and techniques that came in along it and made them their own — and that, the exhibition argues, is where their distinctive culture came from. In the museum's words, the unfamiliar became familiar, the familiar became special, and the special became a new source of strength. The show sets out what Mahan gained, and what it built, from trade by sea.

As of 26 October neither the museum's website nor the National Museum of Korea's listing of its regional museums had published the list or number of objects on show. We will add them when the museum issues its opening press release.

Hours, admission and contacts

The permanent galleries are free. With children, the Children's Museum (two sessions, 10:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:30, last entry 30 minutes before each ends) and the immersive media hall (10:00–18:00) are on the same site.

What is the 'Mahan crown'?

The 'Mahan crown' in the festival's name is the gilt-bronze crown from Sinchon-ri, Naju, a National Treasure. It came from Tomb No. 9 at Sinchon-ri in Bannam-myeon — the village where the museum stands — and is counted the signature object of Yeongsan River Mahan.

The crown has two layers: an outer band and an inner cap fitted inside it. Where the uprights of Silla gold crowns look like stacked versions of the character for 'mountain', the uprights on the Sinchon-ri crown branch like flowering plants, which makes it easy to tell apart.

The crown belongs to the National Museum of Korea (Bon-gwan 5860), and its e-museum record lists it as on display in Naju National Museum's permanent galleries. It has not been announced whether it appears in this exhibition, so if the crown is why you are going, ask whether it is in the permanent galleries before you set off.

Why do the jar coffins of Bannam matter?

The emblem of Mahan burials in the Yeongsan basin is the jar coffin (onggwan): two large jars set mouth to mouth with the body inside. The Bannam tombs were first excavated during the Japanese colonial period, and the glass plate photographs taken then are held by the National Museum of Korea. A look through them before the exhibition gives you a picture of which tombs the objects came from, and how they lay in the ground.

The photograph of glass beads fits the exhibition's theme of goods from across the sea, but we could not confirm that these particular beads were imported. Treat it as atmosphere, not evidence.

The last photograph, in colour, gives a sense of how large a jar coffin is. It is a donated piece with no recorded findspot, though, so it cannot be said to come from Naju.

What happens at the Mahan Crown Festival on 31 October?

According to reports in the Jeonnam Ilbo and Hanbang Tongsinsa, the festival opens at 10:00 with a parade of flags for the 54 statelets of Mahan by the Bannam Mahan heritage society. Samulnori drumming and an opening ceremony follow, then at 11:30 Sodoje, a re-enactment of a Mahan rite to heaven. The afternoon brings a 12-piece band, Korean traditional song, a namsadang tightrope act, guest singers at 15:00, and at 16:00 a close with the ganggangsullae circle dance by the Bannam ganggangsullae society.

• Making a Mahan crown
• Face painting and pyrography
• Family mottos written for you
• Making and flying Mahan kites
• Traditional folk games

To see both in one day, watch the parade and Sodoje in the morning, then go into the exhibition and permanent galleries after lunch.

Getting there and what to expect without Korean

The museum is in the countryside, about 30 minutes west of Naju Station. From Seoul, KTX trains run from Yongsan Station to Naju Station (SRT trains run from Suseo). The museum's English directions give city bus 107 from Naju Station via Yeongsanpo Terminal to the museum — about 10 minutes to Yeongsanpo, then about 20 more — and the same bus 107 from Yeongsanpo or the Naju intercity bus terminal; from Gwangju Songjeong Station, buses 160 or 1160 connect at Yeongsanpo Terminal. Its timetables are years old, so check bus 107's current times on arrival or take a taxi from Naju Station. Inside, the free mobile guide app gives location-based commentary on main exhibits in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese — download it on Wi-Fi before you visit and bring earphones. The museum has not said whether the app covers this new exhibition. No booking is needed for an individual visit as far as the museum has announced; guided tours and group bookings go through its Korean-language website. The festival programme on 31 October is in Korean, but the parade, tightrope act and craft tables need little explanation.