The 80th Anniversary of the Liberation GanaArt Collection 《Prelude: With a Heart Singing Stars》

Prelude

by Yun Dong-ju,

Wishing to have no speck of shame when

looking up at the sky until my dying day, 

I’ve agonized

over even the winds rustling the leaves.

With a heart singing stars,

I will love all dying things. 

And I must walk

the path that is given to me.

Tonight, once again, the stars swish past the wind.

November 20, 1941

The Seoul Museum of Art presents a special exhibition to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation, featuring major works from its collection and the GanaArt Collection that reflect the social and cultural atmosphere of Korea before and after liberation. The GanaArt Collection consists of 200 artworks donated by Lee Ho-jae, the Chairman of GanaArt, in 2001. The donation consists of Minjung Art and realist art that passionately portray aspects of 1980s and 1990s Korean society.

With 80 years having passed since Korea’s liberation, the generation that experienced Japanese colonial rule, liberation, the Korean War , and national division firsthand has given way to the next generation   that did not. The 95 percent of today’s Korean population born post-liberation has only learned about the series of monumental events that took place before and after liberation as historical facts through extant records. Through the works in the GanaArt Collection, this exhibition seeks to allow viewers to empathize more deeply with past circumstances by providing social, political, and historical contexts and introducing personal narratives that have remained on the periphery of the grand discourse of Korean modern and contemporary history.

The exhibition is composed of four parts. Part 1 thematizes Japanese colonial rule and the independence movement, examining the history of pain and sacrifice. Part 2 deals with the horrors of the Korean War as a tragic fratricide. Part 3 reflects on the detriments of national division and social and political issues in postwar Korea. Part 4 explores the future possibilities through works that envision peaceful coexistence beyond war and conflicts. 

Artworks in this exhibition are presented alongside poems capturing the 1940s and 1950s spirit of resistance and recovery to vividly convey the resonance of the times. Faithfully harboring the yearning for liberation, the harrowing shadow of war that comes from death, and the pain of national division and ideological conflict, the poems offer an indirect experience of how Korean people persevered through the dark times.

The February 8 Declaration of Independence written by Korean students in Tokyo in 1919 reads, “The Korean people have maintained a sophisticated culture and the experience of a national life for almost 5,000 years. At the same time, the harms and unhappiness resulting from many years of autocracy have led Korean people to today’s reality. Yet  we trust the Korean people, who have loved and favored justice and peace since its establishment, will be able to contribute to peace in the world and its culture of humanity, once we can found a new country, modelled after advanced nations and on the foundation of democracy based on justice and freedom.”

The freedom, Koreans take for granted today, is indebted to the sacrifices of our previous generation. The liberty they achieved through their dedication and courage is a precious legacy that we must pass on to future generations. This exhibition commemorating the 80th anniversary of national liberation will hopefully serve as an opportunity to reflect on the value of freedom and a prelude that hold a future of peace and reconciliation.

※ This exhibition presents 14 works from the Seoul Museum of Art collection and 7 works from the GanaArt Collection.