Museum Exchange among Port Cities – Building Accomplishments with Traveling Exhibitions Dalian City - Kitakyushu City - Incheon Metropolitan City
Dalian City Incheon Metropolitan City Kitakyushu City

Dalian, Liaoning (China), Kitakyushu, Fukuoka (Japan), Incheon (Korea) share commonality as modern industrial cities and port cities.

The exchange among the three cities began when Dalian and Kitakyushu signed a friendship city agreement in 1979, and Kitakyushu and Incheon signed a sister city agreement in 1988. In 1991, the East Asia Cities Conference and the East Asia Economic Experts Conference (today:the Organization for the East Asia Economic Development) were established by the sister/friendship cities of China (Dalian and Qingdao), Japan (Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki), and Korea (Busan and Incheon). In 1994, Dalian and Incheon signed a Friendship City Agreement, establishing CJK sister/friendship triangle relations.

The three cities currently operate the East Asia Friendship Museum Exchange Program. Dalian City Lüshun Museum, Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History & Human History, and Incheon Metropolitan City Museum started holding the Museum Director Meeting and a preliminary working-level meeting on an annual basis following an agreement (2010-2015) signed in November 2010. Based on an agreement reached in the 2nd Director’s Meeting in 2011, traveling exhibitions and jointly-planned exhibitions have also been held since the following year. At the 5th Directors’ Meeting in 2015, the second term of agreement (2016-2021) was signed, followed by Agreement on the Hosting of the East Asian Friendship Museum Exhibition signed in 2016. Based on the Memorandum, traveling exhibitions under the theme of "East Asian Living Culture: Clothing, Food and Living" have been held on a biennial basis. In October 2021, the three museums signed the 3rd term agreement (2022-2027) and agreed to continuously promote exchange projects for the next six years.

Meanwhile, as the 2019 CCEA, Incheon has been engaged in various cultural and exchange activities with its partner CCEA cities, Xi’an and Toshima (Tokyo) throughout 2019. Likewise, Kitakyushu was a 2020 CCEA. The OEAED, whose members include the three cities, is becoming a platform for the Yellow Sea Rim Cities Economic Exchange consisting of 11 major cities from CJK. Dalian held a table tennis event in 2016, inviting eight CJK friendship cities including Kitakyushu and Incheon.

2010: East Asia Friendship Museum Exchange begins: Museum Director Meeting and Working-level Meeting hosted on a rotational basis
The Museum Director Meeting originally began as a commemorative program for the 20th anniversary of sister/friendship cities relations between Kitakyushu and Incheon. It developed into a trilateral exchange program following a suggestion from Kitakyushu. After the working-level meeting in August 2010, the 1st East Asian Friendship Museum Director’s Meeting (both held in Kitakyushu) was held in November the same year. At the meeting, the three museum directors signed the Agreement on East Asia Friendship Museum Exchange Program, which marked the beginning of the trilateral museum exchange. Since then, the museums hold both meetings annually on a rotational basis, in which they discuss future activities. The exchange program is renewed every three years.
  • The 11th East Asia Friendship Museum Director Meeting in 2021
    (Source: Lüshun Museum)

Past Events :

Past Events
Year Location Working-level Meeting Director Meeting
2010 Kitakyushu August (1st) November (1st)
→ Signed “Agreement on East Asian Friendship Museums”
2011 Incheon July (2nd) October (2nd)
2012 Dalian June (3rd)  
2013 Kitakyushu August (4th) December (3rd)
2014 Incheon July (5th) October (4th)
2015 Dalian July (6th) October (5th)
→ The second term of the Agreement was signed. Also agreed to hold traveling exhibition every other year
2016 Kitakyushu July (7th) November (6th)
2017 Incheon June (8th) October (7th)
2018 Dalian April (9th) September (8th)
2019 Kitakyushu July (10th) October (9th)
2020 Incheon August (11th)
*Online
November (10th)
*Held online
2021 Dalian July (12th)
*Online
October (11th)
*Held online
→ The third term of the Agreement was signed to promote exchange projects for the next six years
2022 Kitakyushu First half of
the year (13th)
[tentative]
November (12th) [tentative]
*During the meeting period, a symposium of trilateral museums will be held on the topic of the achievements and future prospects of the East Asian Friendship Museums project.
2012: The First Special Exchange Exhibition “Dalian, Scenery of City”
This exhibition compared photos of the old and new Dalian, allowing a quick glance at the changes the city went through.
Dalian, 도시의 풍경
Date Location
October 9 – November 4, 2012 Incheon City Museum
October 26 – November 25, 2012 Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History
2013: ‘East Asia Exchange Section’ established at Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History
With the renewal opening of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History in March 2013, the museum established a permanent section of East Asian Exchange to introduce the trilateral museum exchange, and has been displaying Dalian and Incheon’s history and culture, the two museum’s activities, as well as pictures, relevant documents, artifacts, etc.
  • East Asia Exchange Section (Source: Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History)
2013-2014: The Second Special Exchange Exhibition “Kitakyushu – Scenery of an Industrial City”
The exhibition introduced the past and the present of Kitakyushu as an industrial city, a bird’s-eye view of the city, and reproduced coal mine photographs.
Kitakyushu-공업도시의 풍경
Date Location
October 15 - November 10, 2013 Incheon City Museum
January 21 – February 16, 2014 Lüshun Museum
  • ncheon Exhibition “Kitakyushu – Scenery of an Industrial City” Poster (Source: Incheon City Museum)
2013-2014: 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Kitakyushu Municipal System – “Lüshun Museum and Incheon City Museum’s Specialty Collection Exhibition”
From December 21, 2013 to February 11, 2014, “Lüshun Museum and Incheon City Museum’s Specialty Collection Exhibition” was held at the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Kitakyushu municipality. The two museums’ bronze artifacts, paintings, and pottery introduced the two countries' history and culture.
2014-2015: The Third Special Exchange Exhibition “Modern Incheon Art”
The exhibition explored through printed illustrative documents how the modern Incheon has been expressed and passed down through the ages, as well as how its depiction has been accepted.
모던 Incheon畵
Date Location
December 4, 2014 - January 4, 2015 Lüshun Museum
December 6, 2014 - January 12, 2015 Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History
2016-2017: The First “East Asia Life and Culture” Traveling Exhibition, “Kimono (Japanese traditional attire)” Exhibition
At the 4th Museum Director Meeting (2014), the directors agreed to conduct touring exhibitions on “East Asia Life and Culture (clothing, food, and housing)” every two years on a rotational basis and signed the Agreement on the Hosting of the East Asian Friendship Museum Exhibition in 2016.

The first of the exhibition series under the theme of East Asian clothing culture was hosted by Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History as a special exhibition on Japanese clothing culture. The series continued in Lüshun and Incheon.
  • Exhibition at Lüshun “Life with Clothes – Modern Japanese Civilian’s Clothing”
    (Source: Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History)
기모노
Date Location Event
November 12 – December 11, 2016 Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History Japanese Spirit through Kimono
January 10 – February 5, 2017 Lüshun Museum Life with Clothes – Modern Japanese Civilian’s Clothing
February 14 – March 19, 2017 Incheon City Museum Japan’s Emotion through Kimono
2018-2019: The Second “East Asia Life and Culture” Traveling Exhibition - “Chopsticks” Exhibition
The second traveling exhibition under the theme of East Asian food culture reflected the unique characteristics of each country based on the chopsticks collection of the Lüshun Museum.
  • Exhibition at Incheon “The Great Tool, Chopsticks” (Source: Incheon City Museum)
위대한 도구, 젓가락
Date Location Event
May 18 – September 20, 2018 Lüshun Museum  
October 20 – December 9, 2018 Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History “Chopsticks and Life – CJK Chopsticks Culture” exhibition held as a part of “Travel of Food – Chopsticks and Washoku (Japanese food)’s Cultural History
January 22 – February 24, 2019 Incheon City Museum The Great Tool, Chopsticks
2020-2021: The Third “East Asia Life and Culture” Traveling Exhibition - “Backroom (Restroom)” Exhibition Planned
The third traveling exhibition under the theme of toilets in residential culture, was held in Lüshun and Kitakyushu, starting with the exhibition “Backroom, Becomes Toilet” at the Incheon City Museum.
  • Incheon Exhibition “Backroom, Becomes Toilet” (Source: Incheon City Museum)
그녀들의 공간, 안채
Date Location Event
November 24 2020 – March 1, 2021 Incheon City Museum Backroom, Becomes Toilet
November 19, 2021 - February 19, 2022 Lüshun Museum The Change of Restroom Culture in China
November 19, 2021 - March 13, 2022 Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History & Human History Backroom, Becomes Restroom
* Plan to hold its own exhibition of “History of Japanese Restrooms” in October 2022