The Ulsan Museum exhibition “Filling the Gaps with Joyful Imagination” is offering citizens a renewed cultural experience by reimagining how museum spaces can be used in everyday life. Organized as the museum’s first pop-up exhibition, the project was developed in collaboration with the Smart City Convergence College of the University of Ulsan and will run until January 18 at the rest area in front of the second-floor auditorium of the Ulsan Museum.
This exhibition moves beyond conventional display formats by focusing on underutilized and transitional spaces within the museum. Rather than functioning solely as a place for viewing exhibits, the museum seeks to position itself as a living cultural space where visitors can pause, relax, and interact. The initiative reflects the Ulsan Museum’s long-term vision of becoming a community-oriented institution closely connected to citizens’ daily lives.
 [코리안투데이] Poster for the Ulsan Museum’s first pop-up exhibition, “Filling the Gaps with Joyful Imagination,” a spatial reconfiguration project in collaboration with the University of Ulsan. © 정소영 기자 |
“Filling the Gaps with Joyful Imagination” is part of the Ulsan Museum’s spatial reconfiguration project, which aims to reinterpret physical limitations through the lens of user experience. The collaboration with a local university is particularly significant, as it introduces youthful perspectives and field-based design thinking into a public cultural environment.
The exhibition showcases a series of proposals designed to activate spaces that have traditionally seen limited use. These include ideas for expanding visitor rest areas, transforming corridors into exhibition zones, and creating hybrid cultural spaces that integrate library and archival functions. Each proposal is based on detailed spatial analysis and visitor flow studies, offering realistic and implementable design solutions rather than abstract concepts.
The exhibition content was created by third-year students from the Interior Spatial Design track at the University of Ulsan’s Smart City Convergence College as part of a convergence space research course. During the second half of 2025, students conducted on-site research at the museum, analyzing spatial functions and limitations while developing redesign proposals from the perspective of everyday users.
Approaching the museum not merely as a site for observation but as a space for daily use and social interaction, the students emphasized the importance of rest areas, the coexistence of exhibition and relaxation spaces, and the creation of new cultural platforms that combine records, information, and experience. Their work reflects a balance between youthful creativity and practical design thinking.
Ulsan Museum officials expect the exhibition to help share the untapped potential of museum spaces with the public and to provide valuable feedback for future spatial planning. The project also highlights the museum’s commitment to growing alongside the local community through continued collaboration with regional institutions.
According to museum representatives, the students’ fresh perspectives reveal new possibilities inherent in the museum’s spatial structure. They emphasized that sustained cooperation with local partners will remain central to the museum’s evolution as an open, citizen-centered cultural space.
The Ulsan Museum exhibition “Filling the Gaps with Joyful Imagination” invites visitors to reconsider how cultural spaces can function beyond traditional roles. By presenting the creative ideas of young designers, the exhibition demonstrates how museums can evolve into more inclusive and engaging environments. Admission is free, and the exhibition is open during regular museum hours.
[ By Soyoung Jung: ulsangangbuk@thekoreantoday.com ] | Ulsan Gangbuk
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