Korean Museum of Straw and Life

Straw and grass, though not used as period-defining terms like the Stone Age or Iron Age, have been universal materials that have accompanied humanity for the longest time, widely used in dietary and residential life. This straw culture, which continued for thousands of years, rapidly disappeared due to the influence of the Saemaul Undong (New Community Movement) and industrialization policies in the 1970s. The Jipul Life History Museum is a private museum established in 1993 to preserve the straw culture imbued with the wisdom of ancestors, research its utilization methods, and pass it down to descendants. Currently, the museum houses over 63,000 artifacts, including straw life tools, agricultural implements, Joseon Dynasty hanok doors, spinning tops from around the world, folk materials, as well as archival materials such as photographs, videos, and audio recordings. Additionally, through at least one special exhibition annually, it reinterprets straw culture from a modern perspective, maintaining continuous communication with visitors.