After Exhibitions End, Transformed into Waste... Korean Art Museums Creating 100 Billion Won Worth of Trash [Sustainable K-Art]①

Annual 15,000 Exhibitions Held, Exhibition Waste Unquantifiable
Government Policy and Regulation Lacking on Exhibition Waste... Concerns Over Weakening Global Competitiveness

Exhibitions leave behind two things. One is emotion. The impression left by the artwork lives on in the hearts of visitors for a long time. The other is waste. Temporary walls, adhesive sheets, pamphlets, and other materials installed for the exhibition soon become trash once the exhibition ends. Exhibition periods range from as short as 3-4 days to as long as 1-2 months. The art world estimates that about 15,000 exhibitions are held annually in Korea. Assuming an average cost of about 10 million KRW per exhibition for exhibition production, the Korean art industry spends approximately 100 billion KRW annually on creating and disposing of waste.

Exhibition view of "Sustainable Museums: Art and Environment" held at Busan Museum of Modern Art in May 2021. Waste equivalent to two 5-ton trucks, discarded from previous exhibitions, was piled up and presented like artwork.
[Photo by Busan Museum of Modern Art]

Let’s look at the 2022 budget of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA). The average cost for one indoor curated exhibition at MMCA is about 270 million KRW. Typically, 20-30% of the budget is spent on so-called ‘exhibition space production,’ which includes installing temporary walls, painting, and applying adhesive sheets. Another 20% of the budget goes toward installing and dismantling artworks. In other words, over 50 million KRW is spent to carefully create exhibition production materials. Even if the exhibition lasts 5-6 months at most, these materials become waste afterward. Additionally, dismantling and disposing of this waste costs more than 50 million KRW. Simply put, over 100 million KRW per exhibition is spent on creating and discarding waste.

For exhibitions held in large spaces of 1,000 to 1,600 square meters, the average weight of waste generated is 5 to 7 tons. Even small to medium-sized art exhibitions produce waste measured in tons. Most of this waste consists of gypsum boards, plywood, steel frames used for temporary walls, or plastics used for engraving exhibition descriptions. While wood and steel frames can be recycled, waste industry insiders explain that gypsum boards painted with paint or PVC materials are difficult to recycle because they emit harmful substances when heated, classifying them as hazardous waste.

In September 2021, the government enacted the Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Basic Act (commonly called the Carbon Neutrality Basic Act) to respond to the climate crisis. The Korean art world also began addressing the climate crisis in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. National and large private art museums produced manuals and resource books and conducted related projects and exhibitions, but most were one-off events. Corporations, recognizing their obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fulfill social responsibility, began taking action. Meanwhile, art museums have quietly accumulated the issue of exhibition waste in a blind spot. Although they have started to consider environmental concerns, they currently cannot accurately estimate the scale of exhibition waste or the amount of carbon dioxide emissions generated.

Statistics of Visual Arts Exhibitions in Korea. [Source = Korea Arts & Culture Education Service]

A representative from an exhibition waste company said, “General art exhibitions produce around 5 tons of waste, industrial exhibitions generate an average of 270 kg per 9m² booth, and large exhibitions produce about 20 tons of waste per event.” They explained, “If 10,000 exhibitions are held annually, more than 200,000 tons of waste is generated each year.”

After the end of COVID-19, the number of exhibitions exploded. Domestic art exhibitions increased from 3,993 in 2020 to 5,441 in 2021, and further to 8,437 the following year. Industry insiders expect nearly 10,000 exhibitions to be held this year. An art industry insider said, “It’s natural that exhibition waste has increased as the number of exhibitions has grown.” They added, “However, only large museums like MMCA or Leeum are properly recycling or managing waste.”

The biggest core issue of exhibition waste is the ‘temporary wall.’ Once used, it is difficult to recycle and is practically single-use. However, many curators want to create new and overwhelming spaces to emphasize their own exhibition concepts and characteristics. Temporary walls are essential for this.

The 2021 exhibition “Sustainable Museums: Art and Environment” held at the Busan Museum of Modern Art attracted attention by collecting 3 tons of temporary walls and exhibition waste from the museum without dismantling them and piling them up like an object in a corner of the exhibition hall. Busan Museum of Modern Art’s self-confession through trash was, in fact, an artistic experiment showing that contemporary art produces a lot of waste.

Installation view of modular partitions at the Leeum Museum of Art. The Leeum Museum of Art and Hoam Art Museum are reducing exhibition waste by recycling modular partitions.
[Photo by Samsung Foundation of Culture]

Since 2014, MMCA has changed its work system so that the team responsible for the next exhibition handles the dismantling of exhibition structures to reduce waste. Typically, exhibition structures are installed and disposed of by outsourced companies. Kim Yong-ju, MMCA’s head of exhibition operations, stated during the 2022 “Museum-Carbon Project” that “by entrusting this to the next exhibition team, they directly identified parts that could be reused, achieving savings in materials, protective materials, and exhibition furniture.”

What about private museums? Leeum Museum of Art began promoting exhibition waste reduction from the planning stage in 2022. After the Kim Beom solo exhibition “How to Become a Rock” held last year, the waste generated was 15.4 tons, which was 25 tons less than the initially expected 40.4 tons. This was the result of reusing exhibition pedestals and showcases and applying modular partitions. Leeum also reported that exhibition waste disposal costs were reduced by about 7 million KRW. Kim Sung-tae, Leeum’s senior designer, said, “By using modular partitions, we reduced temporary wall waste while securing installation time and reducing on-site personnel, achieving efficient results.” A representative from a regional traditional art exhibition institution visited to inquire about the use of showcases and left with answers.

Frieze, considered the world's second-largest art fair, was held on the 2nd at COEX Hall C·D in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. On the first day, only VIP ticket holders were allowed entry, and general admission begins tomorrow (the 3rd). Frieze Seoul features 110 galleries from 21 countries showcasing works by the top contemporary artists. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The Korean art world is also making repeated efforts to ride the huge wave of ‘carbon neutrality.’ When the art world’s concern about waste reduction began, Frieze, one of the world’s two major art fairs, was held in Seoul, focusing global art world attention on Korea. However, the absence of government policies and regulations on exhibition waste raised concerns that Korea’s position in the global art market could be jeopardized. In the era of the climate crisis, how has the industrial exhibition sector been addressing the issue of exhibition waste first through hosting global art fairs?

Professor Yoon Young-hye of Dongduk Women’s University’s Global MICE Department said, “Because exhibitions are industrial in nature, gathering people, they produce a lot of carbon emissions, and tracking emission sources is not easy, so technological convergence is needed.” Professor Yoon explained, “Management should be done by providing incentives for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and penalties for the opposite. Like the example of IMEX, Europe’s largest MICE exhibition held in Germany, the industry can utilize carbon reduction achievements through reports that show quantitative carbon savings as well as actual pre-design and performance results.”