Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum Hosts 《Reimaging Heritage : Shaping the Future Through Art》 Exhibition
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Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum Hosts 《Reimaging Heritage : Shaping the Future Through Art》 Exhibition
The Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum hosts the exhibition Reimagining Heritage: Shaping the Future Through Art at the Vault Art Museum from March 25 to August 17, in celebration of the 80th anniversary of Korea’s Liberation.
Reimaging Heritage : Shaping the Future Through Art
○ Period: March 25-August 17, 2025
○ Venue: Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum
○ Opening Hours: 9 a.m. ~ 6 p.m. (Closed every Monday and January 1)
○ Free admission
○ For more info.: (051)607-8043
○ Website: https://www.busan.go.kr/mmch/index
Development and preservation are recurring themes in discussions on cultural heritage. This exhibition begins with a fundamental question: How can we utilize our cultural heritage while effectively preserving it? A Fresh Perspective on Heritage: Opening the Future Through Art is a special exhibition that reinterprets and presents ‘Sites of the Busan Wartime Capital—one of Korea’s most significant modern and contemporary heritage sites, which is now on UNESCO's Tentative List of World Heritage Sites—through the lens of contemporary art. Rather than merely showcasing these heritage sites as they are, this exhibition seeks to explore them from multiple perspectives, uncovering new meanings and possibilities.
The ‘Sites of the Busan Wartime Capital’ comprise nine cultural heritage sites that represent Busan’s role as Korea’s temporary capital during the Korean War. These include five architectural heritage sites and four site-specific heritage locations. The exhibition’s central theme revolves around these nine sites, each examined by one of nine artists who have conducted extensive research and transformed their findings into contemporary artworks, offering a fresh perspective on Korean history through art.
This exhibition consists of three parts: Part 1: Site of Livelihood – Sustaining Life on Limited Land focuses on Ami-dong Tombstone Village and Uam-dong Cattle Shed Village, which were the representative residential areas for refugees, and Pier 1 of Busan Port, which was essential to the refugees’ livelihoods, when over a million war refugees sought shelter in the city’s limited space; Part 2: International Cooperation – Support and Sacrifice for Peace features ‘the U.S. Embassy and US Information Service (USIS),’ ‘the United Nations Memorial Cemetery,’ and ‘Camp Hialeah,’ which are related to the 1.75 million UN forces who manned the Nakdonggang River Defense Line and sacrificed themselves for peace of the Republic of Korea and the UN. These three sites are reconstructed by three artists; and Part 3: The Wartime Capital – The Continuity of the State and Government examines the three national institutions that represented the government, which remained in place for 1,023 days despite Busan being a temporary capital—the Temporary Presidential Residence, the Temporary Government Complex, and the Korea Meteorological Administration. All these are reinterpreted through the language of art.
In the past, efforts to preserve cultural heritage primarily focused on maintaining its physical form. Today, the focus has shifted toward preserving and expanding its value. Cultural heritage is not merely a relic of the past—it is a living history that continues to play a vital role in shaping society today and into the future. Therefore, interpreting the 'Heritage of Busan, the Wartime Capital' from an artistic perspective is a process of creating future value through past history.
Busan’s original downtown is a treasure trove of history and culture that affords citizens opportunities to directly experience the city’s modern and contemporary history. This is the very raison d'être of the Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum, and it serves as a reminder of the museum’s enduring role moving forward. I hope this exhibition offers a fresh perspective on Busan’s modern and contemporary history, as well as that of the Republic of Korea more generally. By offering a fresh perspective, this exhibition aims to highlight the significance of Korean heritage beyond its local context, underscore its global importance, and contribute to its eventual inscription on the World Heritage List.
