Recovering Our History: Post‑Liberation Korea’s Cultural Restoration
Creatrip Team
3 months ago
A special exhibition at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, titled “Recovering History, Becoming Ours Again (1945–1948),” opened on the 18th and runs through March 31. The show highlights the intense effort after Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule to restore Korean names, language, culture and memory. Exhibits include the first post‑liberation Korean primer “Hangeul First Steps” (한글 첫걸음), reinstated personal name tags, reissued books, a facsimile of the November 23, 1945 reissued Chosun Ilbo newspaper, and returned cultural treasures such as the State Seal imperial edict (국새 칙명지보). A second concurrent exhibition, “Nightscapes,” running until March 22, reexamines the social meaning of night in modern Korean history—tracing the shift from enforced curfews (curfew) and darkness to public leisure. Items on display range from comics about curfew life, a diary entry from a temporarily lifted curfew on Christmas, 1960s love letters exchanged at night, an extra edition announcing full curfew removal, to 1990s PC‑communication terminals (HiTEL) used during late‑night online culture.
