MU:DS merchandise available at the National Museum of Korea is so popular that new releases quickly sell out. (Courtesy of National Museum of Korea)

Merchandise produced for the National Museum of Korea by its official Foundation has a snazzy new name: “MU:DS,” a portmanteau of “museum” and “goods.”

Over the past few years, museum artifacts that once sat quietly under pin lights have become essential items that frequently sell out. People line up at the museum gift shop before it opens, and there is even fierce competition online for preorders.

The whole scenario would have been completely unimaginable just a few years ago.

The MU:DS craze shows that museum merchandise has taken on a meaning that transcends the relevant historical artifacts and traditional culture.

The merchandise’s popularity took off in 2020 with the release of miniature statues modeled off the gilt-bronze Pensive Maitreya Bodhisattva from Korea’s Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE – 668 CE). The hype around the item grew considerably once news broke that RM, a member of the boy group BTS, had one.

That was when Koreans of Generation MZ – those born between 1981 and 2005 who came of age with computers and mobile gadgets – began to consider MU:DS hip.

These incense burners are modeled after the Great Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje Kingdom, discovered in Buyeo in 1993 and believed to date back to 6 CE. (Courtesy of National Museum of Korea)

Following the Pensive Bodhisattva miniature, the next big hit came from the Great Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje Kingdom. A miniature, measuring about half the size of the actual incense burner, was made using 3D printing. Notably, it is not merely a decorative object but can actually burn incense, just like the original.

The miniature Gilt-bronze Incense Burner, which comes in seven different colors, is hardly cheap, at 99,000 won a pop. Even so, the first consignment sold out within a week of its release, and the most popular color, gold, has been repeatedly out of stock until recently.

Currently, the most popular MU:DS item is a set of three shot glasses bearing depictions of drunk seonbi (Joseon Dynasty scholars).

When chilled alcohol is poured into the glasses, the scholars’ faces turn ruddy, and red flowers begin to bloom around them. The figures on the glasses are inspired by the drunk seonbi in Kim Hong-do’s late 18^th century painting “Welcoming Banquet for the Governor of Pyeongan.”

Once word spread that the museum was selling soju glasses, all 1,100 sets in the first batch sold out as soon as they went on sale. The sets are still only available for preorder at present.

When a cold drink is poured into these soju glasses, the seonbi’s faces begin to glow red. (Courtesy of National Museum of Korea)

Museum merchandise has been reinvented, and the response from younger generations in particular has been incredible. The days of gift shops stocked with dusty notebooks, magnets or cutlery sets adorned with images of the most famous museum pieces are gone.

It certainly helps that these commercial representations of Korean culture and history manage to be practical without sacrificing their aesthetic appeal, being as useful as they are pretty.

The MU:DS phenomenon has changed the way Koreans view traditional culture. Especially for the younger generations, old-fashioned is now fashionable, and old-school is the new cool.

The older generations only understood traditional culture in terms of past experiences. The younger ones, however, have no personal experience with the items exhibited in museums, so those objects seem new and exciting. And considering that younger Koreans are eager to show off scarce products and turn heads, they are willing to splurge on what they regard as valuable, collectible museum merchandise.

It seems that, at least initially, many customers are only attracted by the design of museum products that have gone viral on social media. But there is a virtuous cycle at work: Visits to gift shops to purchase merchandise frequently spark interest in the related exhibits.

A good example of that is the Pensive Bodhisattva miniature. As the miniature gained popularity, more people started taking note of the actual Pensive Bodhisattva statues at the museum. The Generation MZ has been flocking to the “Room of Quiet Contemplation,” where two of the most revered statues are displayed.

The National Museum of Korea has four annual special exhibitions. It has been releasing a new line of MU:DS merchandise for each one.

Since the design and sale of MU:DS merchandise have raised interest and awareness in the actual artifacts, the museum intends to keep developing and producing well-designed and useful items inspired by them. It is part of the ongoing effort to make visitors more comfortable with historical and cultural artifacts that were once commonly regarded as dull and esoteric.