The Artistic Heritage Division of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (NRICH) has been undertaking various projects researching the aesthetic characteristics of Korean artistic heritage items and documenting their original forms

In particular, the Artistic Heritage Division conducted a project for documenting original forms of traditional Korean designs and patterns from 2006 through 2014. It investigated traditional designs and patterns in textiles, ceramics, lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl, woodenware decorated with painted ox-horn sheets, metalwork, woodwork, rooftiles and bricks, and palace and royal tomb stonework. Reports were published based on the findings of these investigations.

In 2020, the original forms of beautiful designs, patterns, and paintings on tomb murals from the Goguryeo Kingdom were restored and illustrated.

In 2020 and 2021, in-depth research was conducted on Goryeo-era (918~1392) metalwork, and the illustrations on Korean metal craftworks were included in relevant reports.

The materials on the original forms of art created by this documentation project were made available to the general public by uploading the images and illustrations of the artifacts on the NRICH’s website.

These materials can be used commercially and adapted into secondary works if the source (the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Korea) is indicated since they are considered “open license for public work” under Type 1 of the Korea Open Government License (KOGL) system.

It is hoped that the value and beauty of Korean artistic heritage can be reprocessed into diverse cultural content and widely utilized.