One Hundred Years of Schools in Seoul, 2020 Special Exhibition on Donated Relics
Venue: Special Exhibition Hall B, Seoul Museum of History
The Seoul Museum of History holds a special exhibition on donated relics every year in honor of the donors as well as to showcase the donated relics to the public. This year, the museum has selected relics from about 40 citizens of Seoul among school-related records which have been donated to the museum since its opening.
This special exhibition looks back on the one hundred years of schools in Seoul from the 1880s when modern education first began to the 1980s. For the enlightenment period, the exhibition introduces schools built to nurture talented individuals who would lead the country in a rapidly changing international landscape. For the Japanese colonial rule period, the exhibition delves into Japan's education designed to make Joseon people compliant and ignorant, and Korea's educational movement to save the country in response. For the industrialization period, the exhibition showcases schools that have helped the country overcome the ruins of the Korean War and achieve great economic growth.
This exhibition, made possible only by the donors’ devotion and contributions, aims to share with museum visitors the donors’ valuable memories in stained textbooks, dented lunch boxes, anticipated report cards, and faded picnic photos of bygone days.