Seoul museum gives discarded festival banners second life as designer accessories
Limited-edition card wallets and mini bags made from banners used for the 2025 European Film Festival by Seoul Museum of History. Courtesy of Seoul Museum of History
Discarded festival banners are getting a second act as limited-edition accessories, with the Seoul Museum of History transforming last year’s European Film Festival promotional materials into card wallets and mini bags that combine distinctive designs with a push toward sustainability.
The museum will begin selling the upcycled merchandise at its museum shop on Thursday, using recycled materials to reduce waste from exhibitions and cultural events.
The products were developed in collaboration with Van a Banner, an upcycling company led by Lee Ban-seok, which helped turn the used polyvinyl chloride banners into practical everyday items.
Recycled fabric is used for the products’ linings and mesh components, extending the reuse effort beyond the original banner material.
Because different sections of the banners are cut and incorporated into each item, the finished products vary in color and pattern, making each piece unique, the museum said.
The card wallet features a mesh pocket for cards and a zippered compartment for small belongings, while the mini bag has a magnetic flap designed for convenient opening and closing.
The museum is offering the card wallet for 18,000 won ($13) and the mini bag for 42,000 won, with production limited by the amount of banner material available.
The project reflects the museum’s broader effort to find new uses for promotional materials that would otherwise be discarded after events, while expanding its range of environmentally conscious cultural merchandise.
Park Hyun-min, head of the Seoul Museum of History's public relations and exchange division, said the museum plans to expand its eco-friendly initiatives by continuously creating upcycled goods from its own resources.
"These cultural products are the result of giving new purpose and value to discarded promotional materials," Park said. "We will continue to introduce upcycled products using the museum's resources to put sustainable values into practice."
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.