The Lee Ungno Research Institute at the Daejeon Goam Art and Culture Foundation announced Wednesday that its collection of works and personal effects related to artist Lee Ungno's "Crowd" series won the Excellence Award and the National Heritage Agency Director's Award at the agency's Second Preliminary Cultural Heritage Discovery Competition.
The competition was established to discover movable artifacts produced or formed within the past 50 years for designation as future cultural heritage. A total of 1,916 items across 103 submissions were received, with seven outstanding cases selected through rigorous evaluation including document and on-site reviews and public online voting.
The selected collection, titled "Artist Lee Ungno's 'Crowd'-Related Works and Personal Effects," comprises art albums, prints, painting tools, and a wool vest related to the late Lee Ungno's major 1980s "Crowd" series. The collection was highly recognized for its academic value and rarity in representing an important current in Korean contemporary art history. Lee Ungno is considered a master of modern and contemporary Korean art.
The Daejeon Goam Art and Culture Foundation plans to use this selection as a springboard to actively pursue formal application for official preliminary cultural heritage designation by the National Heritage Agency in 2026 and the subsequent Cultural Heritage Committee deliberation process.
If the collection receives final confirmation as preliminary cultural heritage, the Lee Ungno Research Institute will be able to conduct in-depth research on the value of artworks as national heritage and expand opportunities for public cultural engagement through exhibitions, education, and research at the Lee Ungno Museum.
The foundation also plans to focus on reinforcing artist Lee Ungno's artistic spirit and stature from the perspective of national heritage.
"We are delighted that the personal effects of Goam Lee Ungno, a master of modern and contemporary Korean art, have received national recognition for the first time among artist's personal effects and for the first time in the Chungcheong region," said Lee Gab-jae, CEO of the Daejeon Goam Art and Culture Foundation. "We will continue to do our best to systematically preserve the great legacy of artist Lee Ungno, a source of pride for Daejeon citizens, and share it with the public."
