Young Mic Chungcheong Region Special Performance

Did you know that Cheongju Culture Factory used to be a tobacco factory? From 1946 to 1999, the building was used as a tobacco factory where some 3,000 workers produced upwards of 10 billion cigarettes a year. These were exported to 17 countries, contributing to the growth of the modern Korean economy. When the tobacco factory closed, the building was left abandoned for a long time, until it was given new life as a cultural space. Although it still retains the appearance of a factory, the smoke in the air has been replaced with culture and the arts. Performances, exhibitions, events and seminars related to arts and culture take place all year round in this factory of culture for the city of Cheongju. It houses the Chungbuk Community Media Center, a shop for craft products, an open library and performance hall. Cheongju Culture Factory is also the stage of the Cheongju Craft Biennale. Cheongju Craft Biennale began in 1999 as a culture and arts festival for traditional and modern crafts to showcase the 5,000 years old tradition of Korean crafts to the world. As a formerly abandoned space transformed into a place for culture and the arts, Cheongju Culture Factory is also compared to world famous art museums such as the Tate Modern converted from a power plant, and Musée d’Orsay which was once a train station.

The Korean Craft Museum is a public museum dedicated to crafts located in Cheongju, the host city of the Craft Biennale. As Korea’s only art museum dedicated to crafts, it has been promoting crafts to the public and opening new horizons in the world of crafts. It was established in 2001 and is currently located in the main building of Cheongju Culture Factory. The Korean Craft Museum not only hosts exhibitions of outstanding works of craft in various genres, but also runs a craft academy and craft classes for the general public. The museum shop in the first floor sells items such as teaware, vases and wallets made by local craftspeople.

Dongbu Changko consists of the seven buildings currently remaining of the old Cheongju Tobacco Factory’s tobacco leaf storage facility. The buildings have retained their original features as factory warehouses built in the 1960s, with red brick walls and wooden trusses which make them valuable modern cultural heritage. The bigger significance of Dongbu Changko lies in its rebirth from abandoned warehouse to an art playground for the people of Cheongju. After 8 years of renovation, the 7 buildings of Dongbu Changko have been reopened as public culture spaces and art education facilities, each preserving its unique charm. They currently house the Community Platform, performing arts practice rooms, the Community Cultural Center, an event hall, a cafe, the Dream Arts Center, and the Creative Arts Education Space.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is a public art museum established to collect, preserve, and exhibit contemporary art, as well as conduct research and promote international exchange and art creation. The main museum is located in Makgye-dong, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, with the Seoul branch in Sogye-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and Deoksugung branch in Deoksugung Palace. The Cheongju branch was opened in 2018 as its first branch outside of the Seoul metropolitan area. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Cheongju was built in the annex to the main building of the Korea Tobacco and Ginseng Corporation’s former Cheongju Tobacco Factory. This place where cigarettes were once produced and stored has been renovated and transformed into a cultural hub. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Cheongju is a museum specializing in the storage and restoration of Korean art. It’s even home to Korea’s first open storage, allowing visitors to see the museum's main collection and how it is preserved through the windows. It also has Korea’s only conservation science lab, preserving and systematically managing the 8,700 pieces in its collection. It also operates various programs such as exhibitions and classes.

“For independence, we need to build strength. This strength comes from learning.” At the height of the exploitation and oppression of Japanese colonial rule in 1924, the brothers Kim Youngwon and Kim Wongeun held up the torch of education. Donating everything they had, they established the Daeseong Primary School, and then Cheongju University in 1946. Cheongju University was the first private university to be established south of the Han River. Its spacious campus at the foot of Uamsan Mountain boasts beautiful sights all year round. It’s more than just a place of learning for the community, being a regional landmark with attractions such as the school museum. Many movies and drama series were also filmed on this historical campus.