Light and shadow in media art for national heritage

Home > Opinion > Columns

Light and shadow in media art for national heritage

Published: 29 Aug. 2025, 00:04

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kang Hye-ran

The author is a senior reporter on culture at the JoongAng Ilbo.

The 2025 National Heritage Media Art project has begun in Gunsan, North Jeolla, and Jinju, South Gyeongsang, with plans to expand to eight sites across the country. The initiative combines historic cultural assets with digital technology to create nighttime spectacles that highlight storytelling as much as visual display. This year, events will also be staged at Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang’s Jisan-dong Tumuli, the Jeju-mok Government Office, the Cheorwon Workers’ Party Headquarters, Tongyeong’s Samdo Sugun Tongjeyeong, Tongdo Temple in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang, and Gyeongju’s Daereungwon Tomb Complex.

The effort, organized jointly by the National Heritage Administration and local governments, drew 1.48 million visitors last year. Officials see it as the beginning of a new form of night tourism. The budget, around 7 billion won this year, is projected to exceed 10 billion won next year.

The media installation "Changgyeong Palace Waterlight Lotus" was organized inside Changgyeong Palace in central Seoul from March 7 through Dec. 31, 2024, offering visitors an immersive nighttime experience through a newly expanded media art program. [KOREA HERITAGE SERVICE]

Bringing national heritage and digital immersive media together is not new. The approach has long been promoted as a way to improve access to sites that are difficult to reach. At the National Museum of Korea, digital recreations of Goguryeo Dynasty (37 B.C. to A.D. 668) tomb murals allow visitors to experience relics located beyond today’s borders. At the Arte Museum, the immersive exhibition “The Heritage Garden — Sharing for Connection” gave audiences the sense of entering the interior of Seokguram Grotto. Korea’s pavilion at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, running through October, presents large-scale media facades based on Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) royal processions and bojagi, or wrapping cloth, serving as a form of cultural diplomacy.

But when heritage meets municipal tourism policy, the goals shift. For cities, the priority is attracting visitors and strengthening the economy. Expanding nighttime attractions is an obvious strategy, and national heritage sites provide the necessary backdrop. Few would object to using monuments as a draw. Yet because historic sites are often located outside city centers, they must first be made visually spectacular to encourage evening visitors. That logic has produced a common formula: giant semitransparent screens with 3-D holograms, interactive floor projections and dazzling audiovisual sequences.

The repetition of this approach risks transforming heritage into a secondary element. What should be a reflection on history can instead become a themed light show. In such cases, audiences may leave with little more than the impression of entertainment. There are also concerns that historic sites dressed up in floodlights and drone displays at night may appear underwhelming or even shabby in daylight, a reversal that undermines their dignity.

Unesco’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage emphasized that heritage is more than monuments or objects. It includes traditions and living expressions. While intended for intangible forms of culture, the principle resonates with how tangible heritage should be experienced today. If every site is paired with the same media template, the question inevitably arises: Why visit that specific place?

Visitors view media artwork at the "Mieumwanbo, Strolling Through Traditional Gardens" exhibition at the Sejong Museum of Art in central Seoul on Feb. 24. The exhibit runs through April 27. [KOREA HERITAGE SERVICE]

Officials at the National Heritage Center often emphasize Korea’s rare position as a country that possesses both ancient ruins and advanced digital technology. The combination has undeniable potential. Yet when projects become indistinguishable from one another, the result can resemble copy-and-paste festivals staged in different provinces. To live up to the promise of “light meeting heritage,” the projects must do more than project dazzling images. They must draw out the stories, histories and atmospheres that make each site distinct.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.