Beyond canvas bags: Museum visitors turn to premium designs, goods to connect with artists

A limited edition of see-through shirts made in collaboration with artist Do Ho Suh, priced at nearly 5 million won ($3,720) each, sold out within minutes upon sales opening at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) last month. The shirts were made with direct input from Suh himself, using the very same polyester and nylon material that are used in the artist's famed fabric architecture pieces.

While steep, they're not the only items with hefty price tags on shelves at museums in Korea. 

Koh Ryeo-myoung's “The Podo,” a framed print, sells for 2 million won, and two items tied to Kim Tschang-yeul’s “Recurrence” (1989) and “Water Drops” (1971) go for 990,000 won each.

At the Leeum Museum of Art, Kim Yu-jeong’s “Free Night Brooch E” costs 1.16 million won. The National Museum of Korea, whose goods are sold under the brand MU:DS, began selling a 1.1-million-won mirror on Sept. 1, developed with an artist and based on an artifact held by the Gongju National Museum.

Long gone are the days when key rings, magnets, notebooks and cloth bags with famous paintings on them were the only things sold at museums.

Today, Korean museumgoers are increasingly drawn to premium merchandise, whether through deeper collaboration with their favorite artists or designs that more closely capture the spirit of their work. Sales of limited prints, handmade objects and sometimes clothes that are closely tied to artists are on the rise at Korea's major art institutions. 

“I always buy something from the museum shops when I go to exhibitions, and [I] thought why not get something that is the artwork itself rather than merchandise that would just be used up and worn out?” said Lee Soo-hyun, a museumgoer who recently bought a still life print by Kim Gu-rim priced at 700,000 won from the Leeum Store.

“The print was quite expensive, but I hung it on my living room wall, and I feel like it was a good investment.”

Sales of museum goods in general have seen a significant boost in recent years. National Museum of Korea's MU:DS sold a record 41.3 billion won last year, a nearly twofold increase from the previous years. Of the 15 items priced over 300,000 won at National Museum of Korea, MMCA and Leeum, 14 of them carried an artist’s name or was a reproduction of a specific work.

At the MMCA, two of the products the museum described as high-priced grew out of its exhibitions and collection. A large intaglio print of Lee Jung-seob’s “Bull” (1953-54), a work in the museum’s collection, was priced at 550,000 won and made with the same technique the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation uses to print the country's currency.

A 540,000-won neon light-emitting diode piece based on Cody Choi’s “Downside Is Heavy” (2010-23), made in connection with his exterior wall project at MMCA Cheongju and a collection exhibition at the Seoul branch, was handmade from start to finish by a workshop in collaboration with Choi himself. Only 30 were produced, and it is still on sale.

The MMCA aims for a lineup that runs from affordable goods to edition pieces, a representative said.

“Looking at recent consumption trends, it seems that the public’s general interest in and demand for art goods as a whole has risen, rather than sales of high-priced goods having increased notably,” added the representative.

The Leeum Store’s high-end crafts mostly sell for between 800,000 won and 4 million won. Popular pieces include Kim Jeong-ok’s blue-and-white square box with a grass motif priced at 4 million won, a lacquered two-tier tea box by chaesangjang (bamboo-strip weaving) artisan Seo Sin-jeong priced at 3.9 million won and a print of Bae Se-hwa’s “Meditation” at 2 million won. The bestsellers are a mother-of-pearl octagonal box with chrysanthemum scrolls, at 880,000 won, and Jeon Sang-geun’s “Chuseok Moon Jar,” at 836,000 won.

“Since reopening in 2021, the Leeum Store has continuously introduced the work of craft artists, and customer interest in and purchasing of artist-collaboration crafts has consistently been higher than for general products,” said a representative from Leeum. “We believe this is related to the character of the Leeum Museum of Art, which draws a high proportion of visitors who have long been interested in art.”

Foreign customers buy crafts and expensive items at a relatively higher rate, according to Leeum.

“What stands out recently is that craft artists’ fan bases have diversified through social media,” said the Leeum representative. “More customers check an artist’s social media for news that their work is coming to the Leeum Store, then visit the store to buy it once sales open.”

The National Museum of Korea, whose goods draw on artifacts held by it and the regional national museums, has also brought artists in. Alongside the mirror, its Sept. 1 lineup includes a 680,000-won tea set based on a Gimhae National Museum artifact and a 475,000-won objet modeled on a hoja, a tiger-shaped vessel, from the Buyeo National Museum.

“The number of new high-priced products released each year varies depending on product planning and the release lineup,” said a representative from the National Museum of Korea. “However, we see a certain level of consumer demand for relatively higher-priced products such as crafts and artist collaborations.”

The museum was referring to the number of products priced at 500,000 won or more, which has risen every year, from 14 in 2022 to 23 in 2025, even as the total number of products sold fell from 3,448 to 3,102. Products at 1 million won or more rose from five to 11.

As a result, visitors are spending more per trip. The average purchase per customer rose every year from 23,807 won in 2022 to 34,461 won in the first half of this year, up about 45 percent.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]