Jeollanam-do, Yeongam-gun is famous for being a residential area and the site of a huge burial ground from the 4th to the 6th century, as well as for being the first kiln site to produce glazed ceramic ware during the Unified Silla period (661~935). Gurim Village, where Mt. Weolchul is located, is particularly noteworthy as the village in which the birth myths for Wangin of the Baekje kingdom (18 B.C.-660) and Doseonkuksa of Unified Silla originated. The entire area remains relatively unaltered and preserves the history and beauty of a traditional village. In 1999, the district of Yeongam and the Ewha Womans University Museum built the Yeongam Ceramic Culture Center as a venue to display Yeongam's culture and history. The Gurim Village Project 1 represents the second special exhibition the Museum coordinated at the Center. Eight Korean modern artists and architects, including Yuk Geun-byeon, Lee Bul, Jo Deok-hyeon, and Min Hyeon-shik, utilized the entire village as their stage to display an installation art exhibit in order to express aspects of nature such as earth, wind, and water, as well as the life and history of the village. The exhibit was displayed in the galleries and courtyard of the Yeongam Ceramic Culture Center, in pavilions and old houses in Gurim village, and in the port of Sangdaepo, the historical site from which Wangin departed for Japan.

Since Koreans first made earthenware in prehistoric times, it has been used in everyday life as a medium for storage, transportation, fermentation, and heating. Koreans created and developed glazed and unglazed earthenware from the Three Kingdoms period (57 B.C.-668), through the Unified Silla period (661-935) and the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), all the way up to the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). This vibrant and natural earthenware, a reflection of traditional beauty, was originally used to store fermented foods such as soybean paste and kimchi, a tradition that continues to this day. However, earthenware was long considered of little importance in the history of Korean ceramics as it was overshadowed by the glamour of celadon and white porcelain from abroad. Earthenware was merely considered a traditional craft, and its historic or artistic features were not emphasized. That is why the Ewha Womans University Museum designated earthenware as "the 3rd tradition," along with celadon and white porcelain, and held an exhibition to stress its historic and artistic values. Earthenware with comb patterns from the Neolithic period (5000 B.C.-1000 B.C.), earthenware caskets from the Baekje kingdom (18 B.C.-660), jars from the Goguryeo kingdom (37 B.C.-668), large jars from the Silla kingdom (57 B.C.-668), the earliest known example of Korean glazed ceramic ware, which was discovered in Yeongam-gun, Gurim-ri and dates from Unified Silla, and various glazed and unglazed ceramics and earthenware were displayed, showing the origins and flow of the history of earthenware. Some 170 pieces of ceramics and earthenware were exhibited, among which approximately 20 were from other museums or personal collections.

The exhibition was the first to be held in the newly decorated Modern Arts Gallery within the Ewha Womans University Museum. The works of five professors (Jo Jeong-hyeon, Gang Seok-yeong, Kim Su-jeong, Yu Hae-ja, and Kim Ok-jo) from Ewha Womans University's College of Arts and Design, Department of Ceramic Arts were displayed in association with "The 3rd Tradition, Searching the Origin of Earthenware" exhibition, showing how the spirit of the Korean ceramics tradition is being carried on to this day. The pieces on display included earthenware, white porcelain, celadon, and color-grazed porcelain all with modern styles and shapes.

Along with the exhibition "Beauty and Dream of Helen Kim" to commemorate her 100th birthday, an installation art exhibition was held to honor Dr. Helen Kim. This exhibition was joint-coordinated by Professor Jo Deok-hyeon of the Ewha Womans University's College of Arts and Design and her students. The exhibition started off by commemorating Dr. Helen Kim, who spent her life as a pioneer of Korean culture and women's education for the future and hope of Korea and women under Japanese colonial rule. The exhibition intended to shed new light on the history of Korean women. The exhibition also prepared a space for dialogue so that Dr. Kim's achievements and life could be approached and evaluated from various perspectives. Modern images, lighting, sound, and digital media equipment were used, and the exhibit was organized into the following segments: Introduction; Conversation 1; Conversation 2; Her-story; Dialogue; Becoming Over Being; and Deul-da In/Deul-da Out.

Doctor Helen Kim (ne Kim Hwal-ran, 1899~1970) devoted her entire life to Ewha Womans University. She built the Ewha Womans University Museum in 1935, under Japanese colonial rule, in order to preserve Korean cultural heritage and to give students a sense of national identity. Most of the Museum's collection was lost during the Korean War, but in order to bolster national pride and introduce Korean culture to foreigners, she reconstructed the Museum in Busan, while taking refuge from the war. After the war was over, she reopened the Museum, put her heart and soul into collecting artifacts, and laid the foundation for the Museum. Dr. Helen Kim had a fine eye for art and many of today's national treasures in the Museum were acquired by her. To celebrate the 100th birthday of Dr. Kim, who made the Museum what it is today, an exhibition, composed mainly of pieces she collected, was held to commemorate Dr. Kim's vision for preserving Korean culture and tradition, as well as her wish to realize that vision through the Museum, and in order to remember the simple beauty that she pursued. The exhibition opened on Dr. Kim's birthday, February 27, and was divided into three sections. The first symbolized the official and external image of Dr. Kim and consisted of documentary paintings, such as the Gisagyecheob, and portraits from the 18th century, as well as ceremonial tools and vessels from the 16th century. The second section symbolized an outdoor garden by using landscape paintings of oddly shaped stones and flowers from the Joseon dynasty and a celadon stool with openwork designs from the 13th century Goryeo dynasty (918-1392). The third section symbolized the personal aspect of Dr. Kim and was composed of wooden artifacts such as a folding screen with a painting of 100 boys or a desk with a white porcelain pencil holder and water dropper. There was also a white porcelain jar with a poem in underglaze iron and painted ox-horn sheet handicrafts for the boudoir, as well as table dishes with designs in underglaze blue that were actually used to serve guests, all of which display the poetic sentiment and personal taste of Dr. Kim. In addition, ritual artifacts were displayed, even though Dr. Kim herself was a Christian, showing her deep love for the Korean culture.

Odang An Dong-suk (1922-) is a Korean painter, who has been painting for over 50 years and who also served successive terms as dean of the College of Arts and Design at Ewha Womans University. In February 1998, An Dong-suk donated 30 of her paintings to the Ewha Womans University Museum in order to contribute to the progress of Ewha and the education of Ewha students. To commemorate this generous donation, the 30 paintings plus four paintings initially owned by the Museum were put on display under six different themes. In addition, a film of An Dong-suk working on her paintings was aired, and her sketches, equipment, and photo albums were exhibited.

Alexander Liberman was born in 1912 in Kiev, Russia and studied mathematics at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1941 he migrated to the U.S. to flee from Nazi rule and is currently an environmental sculptor in New York. One of his works, "Dragon Wall" was acquired by the Ewha Womans University Museum and displayed at the 2nd Special Exhibition in the Ewha Sculpture Garden. The motif of "Dragon Wall" (1990) is, appropriately enough, the dragon, which symbolizes Asians' animistic outlook on nature. "Dragon Wall" demonstrates the quintessence of an environmental sculpture.

This exhibition was arranged in the sculpture garden in front of the Museum because the Museum had to close for a year for interior renovations. In the past, stone sculptures were considered a part of shamanism and burial rituals, and were approached from the perspectives of folklore, anthropology or religion. However, this exhibition transcended these traditional perspectives and underscored the artistic value of stone sculptures. There were 70 pieces of stone sculpture including those of tigers, warriors, literati, couples, and of a Jeju boy monk that guarded the tomb of the Queen of King Munjong (1414-1441) of the Joseon dynasty (1392~1910). There were also stone sculptures seen in everyday life such as totem poles, grinding stones, and well lids. A Buddhist stone pagoda--National Treasure No. 351--from the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), a stone pagoda and lantern from Joseon, and a stone lantern post from the Unified Silla period (661-935) were also put on display.