II. The Present Situation_1. Maturing Korean Museum

Art Museums
Their History, Present Situation and Vision:

the case of the Republic of Korea : through historical survey, the case studies of private art museums and the "Mo-am Collection"

  

 국립중앙박물관

 

1. Maturing Korean Museum
It was only five years after the liberation from Japan that the Korean War broke out due to ideological conflicts. Korea was mainly divided by two groups, the Democratic Party and Communist Party, among various groups on the Korean peninsula in 1950. These two groups with different ideologies existed during the Japanese Domination Period. However, it was not an important matter because they had the same aim, which was defeating Japan and recovering the nation’s authority. Yet, the situation entered a totally different phase after liberation. Ideology was the main issue at this time.

The Korean peninsula was administered by two countries: the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The southern part of Korea was administered by the United States, and the northern part was managed by the Soviet Union during this period. This alludes to Korea’s doomed destiny in which Korea would be divided into two countries. Even though many prominent national leaders, such as Gu Kim, and Man-sik Cho, and many others, tried to reunite the Korean peninsula over ideological grounds, Korea was divided into two parts. In 1948, the Republic of Korea was proclaimed in the south and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was established in the north. Two years later, the North took up arms against the south under the propagandist statement “reunification of the Korean peninsula” in 1950.

 

The Korean War came to an end in 1953. However, the Korean government could not perform and run any art activity. It was really hard for the government to rebuilt and rehabilitate the country from the ruin. Until the 1980s, Korea’ modern history is very complicated. Two military revolutions were raised in the South: one was committed by General Chung-hee Park in 1961 and another by the military leader Doo-whan Chun, in 1980, and much turmoil occurred during this period４２. on the positive side, two military based governments successfully promoted Korea’s economic situation as a result of the focus on the economic development plans. Through the economic boom and two major world sports competitions: the Asian Games in 1986 and the Olympic Games in 1988, Korea and the Korean people started to have an interest in art and culture. The Asian Games and Olympic Games could be considered the turning points for Korea to move forward as an artistic and cultural nation.

It is helpful to understand the history of Korean museums during this time better by tracing the shortened histories of the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

The National Museum of Korea (1970 to the Present)
After the liberation from Japan, the Cho-sun Chog-dok Pu Museum (the Japanese General Government Museum) was changed to the National Museum in 1945,

 

and the Lee Royal Family Art Museum４３ was transformed to the Deoksu Palace Art Museum by the U.S. in 1946.
Through the establishment of the National Museum４４ and office regulation of the National Museum in 1949, and through merging several museums, such as the Cho-sun Minjok Museum (the National Minjok Museum) in 1950, and the Deoksu Palace Art Museum in 1969, the National Museum created the foundations to be the premier encyclopedic Museum in Korea.

During and after the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, the collection of the Deoksu Palace Art Museum moved to Pusan and back to Seoul. However, the art museum was suffering from financial difficulties, and even the collection of the art museum, after the Korean War, was stored with the collection of the National Museum in one annex of the National Museum of Korea (Mt. Nam Annex) until Nov. 1954, due to the destruction of the building４５. After the restoration of the Deoksu Palace, the art museum and the National Museum moved their locations to the Sok-jo jeon (the Hall of Stone) in the palace. In the long run, however, under the direction of the Korean government, the Deoksu Palace Art Museum merged with the National Museum of Korea in 1969４６.

 

On July 24th, 1972, the museum re-organized the office regulation to clarify the distinctions between administrative divisions and curatorial divisions in order to enhance academic and public roles of the museum. In the same year, the museum moved to the new building that was transformed to the National Folk Museum of Korea which was located in the Kyungbok Palace. In 1975, the museum re-organized the systems of the museum by changing the regional branches of the museum to the regional national museums of Korea. The museum moved again in 1986 to the newly renovated capitol building (Jungangcheong), the former Japanese General Government building, which housed the museum until it was demolished in the process of the Governmental Clearance Project of Vestiges of Japanese Imperialism in 1995. Under the clearance project, the National Museum of Korea was temporarily moved to the renovated Social Education Center building in 1996 and has occupied the location until the establishment of the permanent museum building in Yongsan, Seoul, in 2005. In the end, the new museum opened to the public in Dec. 2005. For more detailed information, please refer to the Shortened History of the National Museum of Korea as follows:

 

Table 1. <Shortened History of the National Museum of Korea４７>
Year
Event
Nov. 1909
Imperial Museum was founded at the Changkyung Palace
Dec. 1915
Joseon Government-General Museum was founded at the Gyeongbok Palace
Jun. 20, 1926
Gyeongju Branch of the Joseon Government-General４８ Museum opened
Apr. 01, 1939
Buyeo Branch of the Joseon Government-General Museum opened
Apr. 1940
Gongju Branch of the Joseon Government-General Museum opened
Dec. 03, 1945
Joseon Government-General Museum was reorganized as the National Museum
Apr. 1946
Gaeseong City Museum merged with the Gaeseong Branch of the National Museum
Dec. 1950
National Folk Museum in Namsan became the Namsan Branch of the National Museum
Oct. 1953
National Museum was relocated to the Namsan Branch Museum
Jun. 23, 1955
National Museum was relocated from Mt. Nam to Seokjojeon in Deoksu Palace
Jul. 24, 1968
Governing authority of the National Museum transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of culture and Public Information
May. 1969
National Museum was reorganized and integrated with the Deoksu Palace Art Museum
Jul. 19, 1972
National Museum was reorganized as the National Museum of Korea
Aug. 25, 1972
National Museum was relocated from Deoksugung Palace to a new building in the Gyeongbok Palace
Aug. 20, 1975
All Branch Museums were reorganized as regional National Museums
Dec. 06, 1978
Dec. 06 1978 Gwangju National Museum opened
Apr. 12, 1979
National Folk Museum became part of the National Museum
Nov. 2, 1984
Jinju National Museum opened
Aug. 21, 1986
National Museum of Korea relocated to the newly renovated Capitol Building４９
Oct. 30, 1987
Cheongju National Museum opened

Oct. 26, 1990
Jeonju National Museum opened
Oct. 30, 1992
National Folk Museum was dismantled and reorganized
Aug. 06, 1993
Buyeo National Museum moved into a new building
Dec. 07, 1994
Daegu National Museum opened
Dec. 13, 1996
National Museum of Korea moved to the renovated Social Education Center building
Oct. 31, 1997
Ceremony was held for the proposed new site of the National Museum of Korea in the Yongsan district
Jun. 15, 1998
Jinju National Museum reopened as a museum specializing in the history of the Japanese invasions of 1592
Jun. 29, 1998
Gimhae National Museum opened
Apr. 30, 2001
Construction and preparation responsibilities for the new building of the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan were transferred from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the
National Museum of Korea
Jun. 15, 2001
Jeju National Museum opened
Sep. 29, 2001
41 new staff members were employed to prepare for the National Museum of Korea's relocaton to Yongsan
Oct. 30, 2002
Chuncheon National Museum opened
Nov. 20, 2003
History department was newly created in Seoul with 19 staff members; 11 more staff members were employed at Gongju National Museum
May. 14, 2004
Gongju National Museum was relocated and opened in a new building
Oct. 17, 2004
National Museum of Korea located in Sejongno was closed
Nov. 18, 2004
Organizational restructuring (The Museum Policy Division was created, while the Maintenance Division was absorbed and integrated into the General Affairs Division)
Dec. 31, 2004
National Museum of Korea was relocated from Sejongno to Yongsan
Aug. 16, 2005
Reorganization of the departmental office (increased 25 staff including the
newly-established educational cultural exchange group)
Oct. 18, 2005
New National Museum of Korea opened in Yongsan
Apr. 06, 2006
Reorganization of the departmental office (established a visitor service team)

 

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
In 1969, the Korean government (the Munwha gong-bo Pu５０) determined to establish the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, and the museum opened at the annex of the Kyungbok Palace, the old building of the Cho-sun Chong-dok Pu Art Museum, on Oct. 20, 1969. In July, 1973, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea moved to the Sok-jo jeon (the Hall of Stone) in the Deoksu Palace (Deoksugung) when the National Museum changed its location to the new building of the Kyungbok Palace. The move was dictated by growing awareness and sincere desire of the general public for art and culture. Based upon these public’s support, the committee of the Museum decided to establish much larger spaces for special exhibitions, projects and museum’s permanent art collections.

Even though there wasn’t a curatorial department in the museum until 1986, the museum organized a number of important exhibitions in collaboration with the advising committee of the director. In the 1980s, the Museum was obliged to seek other locations for exhibitions and its collection due to the limit of the spaces in the Sok-jo jeon (museum building). The Sok-jo jeon (the Hall of Stone) could no longer fulfill the demands and expectations of the audience for organizing art exhibitions and for housing its permanent art collections. In 1986, in order to resolve these problems, the Korean government built a new building of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. In the same year, the museum reorganized the office regulations, which included the creation of two new departments, the curatorial department and the education and cultural corporation department. The National Museum of Contemporary Art set its foundation stone for a comprehensive contemporary art and research institution in Korea.

On December 1, 1998, the Deoksu Palace Museum became the branch (a detached building) of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea. Since then, the Deoksu Palace Museum, the annex of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, has successfully organized a series of special and innovative exhibitions, benefiting from its location in the center of Seoul. The museum has been offering a variety of cultural and educational events to the people in Korea. on the basis of these diverse activities, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, has already become one of the most popular cultural institutions in Korea５１.

ⓒ 모암문고 www.moamcollection.org