World Writing Systems Museum opens in Korea

The museum is expected to raise people's awareness of the diversity of cultures around the world . Photo: Bich Hanh/Vietnam+

The National Museum of World Writing Systems in Incheon, west of Seoul (South Korea) opened to visitors on June 30.

This is the world's third writing system museum, after two museums in France and China.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on June 29, Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon assessed that the construction of the World Writing System Museum in Korea has great significance as the country has hangeul - the only writing system in the world with clear creative principles and unique structure.

Minister Park Bo Gyoon pledged active support to help the museum serve as a platform connecting hangeul and other writing systems from around the world.

Located in Seoul's Songdo International Business District, the World Writing Systems Museum is a three-story building, including one underground floor, built on a 19,418 square meter plot of land at a total construction cost of 61.1 billion won ($46.7 million).

In terms of form, the Museum is designed like an unfolded white scroll. This will be a new highlight of the Songdo area, in harmony with the park's scenery and surrounding landscape.

The museum has a permanent exhibition room with the theme: “The Great Journey of Writing and Civilization” on the first basement floor. The museum is divided into 3 parts: The Great Invention of Writing; Writing Creates Culture; The Future of Writing in the Conclusion.

Visitors to the Museum have the opportunity to see many artifacts and digital images of 55 different types of writing, from cuneiform - the earliest known human writing, to Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese characters and Korean hangeul - known as one of the most beautifully designed writings.

The museum introduces in 9 languages, including Vietnamese. Photo: Nguyen Yen/Vietnam+

Among the collections are Sumerian tablets – recording floods in ancient Southwest Asia between 2,000 BC and 1,600 BC in Akkadian cuneiform, and Gutenberg's 42-line Bible – the first printed book in the Western world using a metal printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg.

The exhibitions in the Museum of World Writing Systems show the great journey of the world's writing systems and human civilization through the latest digital technology. The exhibitions at the Museum are introduced in 9 languages, including Vietnamese.

The Museum of World Writing Systems will be open from 10am to 6pm every day except Monday and admission is completely free.

VNA

Source: http://www.baovanhoa.vn/the-gioi/artmid/425/articleid/66129/khai-truong-bao-tang-he-thong-chu-viet-the-gioi-tai-han-quoc