Dear colleagues,
Let me give you a few impressions from my visit to Korea two weeks ago. I
was invited to meet with colleagues in Korea to plan ICR activities in
October together with our contact museum and to give a lecture on Swedish
museum system, thinking and practice. It was an overwhelming experience for
me who have never been in this part of the world before.
Our ICR contact in Korea is Director General Chong-Sun Rhi at Gyeonggi
Provincial Museum . During five days we discussed and planned the coming
conference, we visited Coex were the main events of the General Conference
will take place and we traveled to some of the places that many of you will
see in October. And of course, we had Korean meals every day, not at least
Kimchi, an exiting and tasteful experience in itself!
Coex is truly a spectacular convention center located in an ultramodern and
futuristic part of Seoul. Actually it is not only a convention center, but
more of an indoor city of its own, with restaurants, shops, exhibitions,
cinemas and much more. This is also were the international committees will
have their separate conferences, all in one building, which is good for the
social life of the conference and will facilitate meetings with colleagues
from all over the world.
Gyeonggi Provincial Museum will be the host museum for the big farewell
party on the last day of the General Conference. Buses will be chartered and
the delegates will be transported to Gyeonggi Provincial Museum in Suwon,
about one hour drive south from Seoul. This museum was opened in 1996. It is
an expansive museum, mainly cultural history, paintings and calligraphy and
also an outdoor exhibition and a performance theater. The museum are now
developing its activities and are also going to build facilities for
contemporary art. Gyeonggi Provincial Museum have an impressive program for
preschool- and schoolchildren that I could see in vast numbers during my
visit at the museum.
ICR will have two full days of meetings at Coex and one day of excursion in
the Gyeonggi province. I now had the privilege to preview the historical
places ICR will visit in October. These places are also possible for others
to visit on tours being offered on the general excursion day, Thursday
October 7.
One of the places ICR will visit is the Korean Folk Village, a must for
everyone with interest in museum public work and specially for colleagues
with interest in open-air museums. The museum was opened in 1974 and it is
located in an extensive natural environment that is hard to imagine in this
metropolis. This is of course a major tourist attraction today, where people
can have a general view of traditional Korean housing style - more than 260
traditional houses - clothing, dances, music, food and much more.
Another place for ICR and others to visit, of quite different character, is
the Hwaseong Fortress with a fortress wall, more than 5 km long. This
impressive construction was built in late 18th century and it is today
surrounded and partly occupied by a modern urban environment that is
constantly growing. The fortress is registered on the UNESCO World Heritage
list.
I also had a meetings with Byung-Mo Kim and Jong-Kyu Kim, Co-chairmen in the
Organizing Committee for Seoul 2004. I am impressed by the dedication of
ICOM Korea and by their intensive efforts to make the General Conference
special for all of us who will be their guests in October.
Best regards from
Hans Manneby
Chairman ICR
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the
archives at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html
|
