The National Museum of Korea is proud to present, as the first Special Exhibition of 2023, “Companions on the Eternal Journey - Earthenware Figurines and Vessels from Ancient Korea”.

The ceramic figures and clay figurine-decorated pottery used in the funerary rituals of Silla and Gaya contain valuable information on how ancient people lived and how they perceived the afterlife.

This exhibition presents approximately 300 ceramic figures and clay figurine-decorated pieces of pottery. They include around 100 clay figurine-decorated pieces of pottery recovered from Hwangnam-dong, in Gyeongju, during the period of Japanese occupation, which have recently been reassessed. The exhibition also features the entire collection of ceramic figures recently excavated from Malisan Tomb 45, in Haman.

We invite you to come to the exhibition and hear the stories told by the ceramic figures and clay figurine-decorated pottery which, around 1600 years ago, acted as special companions to the deceased on their journey to the afterlife.