War Memorial of KoreaYongsan-gu
That Day, My Everyday Life Became War (그날, 나의 일상은 전쟁이 되었다)
Special exhibition on ordinary people's lives in the Korean War, told through small everyday objects such as rusty tableware, scavenged food and worn belongings.
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Yuseon, a Korean woman, met Ralph, an American soldier, during the Korean War. Their story made the Korean news last year, and previously unseen photographs, letters and papers they left are on public display here for the first time.
Most of the War Memorial is about battles. This room covers meals, school and letters home. Around 200 objects follow three groups: soldiers, refugees, and the communities that rebuilt afterwards. You start with the notebooks and rolling papers (sheets of messages from friends) that soldiers carried to the front, move on to refugees' diaries and records from the makeshift refugee schools, and finish with photographs and film of the rebuilding. The museum's own text points to rusty tableware and food scrounged for a single meal.
It's in the special exhibition hall on the second floor and free, Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30am to 5:40pm, until 29 November. Closed Mondays.
Look for
Yuseon and Ralph's papers
Look for the photographs, letters and documents of a Korean woman and an American soldier who met during the war, shown in public for the first time.
Refugee diaries and refugee-school records
Diaries written by refugees and records from the makeshift schools where classes carried on during the war.
Soldiers' notebooks and rolling papers
Notebooks and sheets of messages from friends that soldiers took with them to the front.
Rusty tableware
Rust-stained dishes that the museum's introduction singles out among the everyday things that saw people through the war.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Going Solo
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You came for tanks and battle maps: this show is about daily life, not combat.
Also at War Memorial of Korea
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
4
- Sol LeWitt: Open StructureCourtesy of Amorepacific Museum of Art (APMA)
- War Memorial of KoreaAdbar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Amorepacific Museum of Art (APMA)kallerna / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- National Museum of KoreaJinah78 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0