[News Culture] A Joseon-era porcelain water dropper that inspired the top prize at this year’s National Museum costume competition is now on view at the National Museum of Korea.
The museum will display the White Porcelain Carp-Shaped Water Dropper from Sept. 23 through Oct. 22 in the Buncheong Ware and White Porcelain Gallery on the third floor of its Permanent Exhibition Hall. The object served as the model for Eulseul Jeon’s winning costume and performance at the 2026 nationwide edition of the museum’s participatory costume event, held Sept. 19.
Water droppers were used to hold the small amount of water needed for grinding an inkstick on an inkstone. Examples shaped like fish or carp turned an everyday scholar’s tool into a compact piece of sculptural craft.
This example depicts a carp leaping through turbulent water, drawing on the East Asian legend of a fish that becomes a dragon after reaching the Dragon Gate. The body is modeled as a carp, while blue underglaze lines along the lower section suggest waves beneath it. The combination gives the small object a strong sense of movement.
That movement became central to Jeon’s interpretation.
Using blue and white to echo the porcelain and its painted decoration, Jeon translated the carp’s form into a fitted costume and performance. She moved close to the floor and used small motions through the body and feet to suggest a fish writhing and flicking its tail.
The museum’s costume event invites participants to choose objects from museum collections and reinterpret them through costume, makeup and performance. This year marked its first expansion into a nationwide program involving the National Museum of Korea and 13 affiliated museums.
Participation rose sharply from the previous year. A total of 275 teams comprising 643 participants entered, compared with 83 teams last year. Fifty teams advanced to regional rounds, with 25 reaching the final. Around 10,000 visitors attended the four regional events.
The Sept. 19 final, held in the museum’s Open Plaza, featured reinterpretations of 25 different cultural objects, including the Pensive Bodhisattva, the Twin Lion Stone Lantern from Jungheungsanseong Fortress, a bronze bell and royal seals.
Jeon’s carp-inspired performance took the grand prize.
The new display gives visitors a chance to see the source object after encountering its contemporary reinterpretation through costume and performance.
National Museum of Korea Director Hong-jun Yoo said this year’s competition showed how cultural heritage can take on new life when it meets humor, imagination and personal interpretation. He encouraged visitors to compare Jeon’s performance with the original porcelain object now on display.
The White Porcelain Carp-Shaped Water Dropper will remain on view through Oct. 22.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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