2021 Special Exhibition by the May 18 Memorial Foundation
1. “People in Forgotten Films” Photo Exhibition (Nov. 25, 2020~Feb. 24, 2021)
The May 18 Memorial Foundation held a photo exhibition and released unpublished photos of the May 18 Democratization Uprising in 1980 which were taken by Hankook Ilbo, a newspaper company.
The Foundation has long been aware of the importance of photos and videos of the May 18 Democratization Uprising and has been collecting them. This photo exhibition entitled
Back in 1980, Hankook Ilbo dispatched four video journalists—the late Hae-woon Kim, Yung Han, Tae-hong Park, and Yong-il Kim, to Gwangju and they shoot 90 rolls of film there.
the late Hae-woon Kim: May 19-23, 1980
Tae-hong Park, Yong-il Kim: May 21-28, 1980
Yung Han: May 28, 1980 ~
However, not a single photo was published by the newspaper due to censorship of the military regime at the time. The photos were forgotten and even the photo journalists themselves did not know where they were. Fortunately, the forgotten photos were kept in Hankook Ilbo’s archives.
In 2018, Hankook Ilbo and the May 18 Memorial Foundation digitized these photos to reproduce their original copies. A total of 1,991 photos were restored from the 90 rolls of film.
This exhibition featured 117 photos from the original copies and classified them into four categories (▲ Challenge, ▲ Prepare resistance, ▲ Restore, ▲ See with eyes closed), and also added two categories as epilogue (▲ At a hospital, ▲ “Journalists” who put together pieces of history). All told, the exhibition consists of six sections.
2. Exhibition [Before the Law], Their Live Stories Hidden Behind the Rulings (May 7~June 30, 2021)
Where are their “lives” unregistered amid social stigma?
Exhibition of unregistered trial records reflecting the live stories of individuals who suffered from violence under “martial law” and the efforts of their families.
The exhibition [Before the Law] was held in the exhibition room of the May 18 Memorial Cultural Center in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the May 18 archives registered as the UNESCO World Heritage.
Exhibition curators—Da-som Seo, Ji-young Lee—and researcher Kyeong-nam Yoo visited the May 18 Freedom Park (restoration of prison in a former military school) and the former prison in Gwangju, where the protestors had stayed. They also met with Young-soon Park, Jae-taek Park, Hae-mo Lee, Woo-jeong Lee, Kwang-ho Kim, and Soon-ro Lee, who had experienced court trials. Based on their trial records and testimonies, the exhibition ask questions about the law that disconnected their normal life and caused pain; “What does the law do?” and “What is the law?”. It features the stories of people unseen behind the court rulings, a high school girl talented in playing a traditional Korean musical instrument, gayageum, a man who was married to the prettiest woman in Yeongam, and a man who wanted to know about his elder brother's life. Among the materials on display are individuals’ trial records (with their consent), Daehan News videos produced by the military regime in 1980 to label Gwangju citizens as “rioters” and “communists” and videos aimed to tell the truth, [Oh! Gwangju] and [When That Day Comes Back in May].
3. May 18th Special Exhibition [Making Up Something That Did Not Happen] (August 20~September 30, 2021)
[Making Up Something That Did Not Happen] is an exhibition planned by Jang-Dong Collective (So-jin Kim, Ha-young Lee) and participated by artists Yu-jin Ko, Geum-bi Park, Mi-kyung Song, Ogiri, Ishima, and Min-gyu Hwang. “Something that did not happen” which these young artists are going to make together transcend the words of distortion and slander that have continued since May 1980, and aim to make people think about what we should do here and now.
01. “Something Impossible Happened” gazes pain and wounds caused by something unprecedented, before talking about something new. Installation works by artist Yu-jin Ko and the series of paintings by artist Mi-kyung Song show the way the generation who did not experience the May 18 incident remembers the victims’ pain and expresses condolences.
- artist Yu-jin Ko, Mi-kyung Song
02. “We did something unprecedented in order not to make it meaningless” means that under violence and oppression inflicted because of something that did not happen, citizens cared for and protected each other doing something unprecedented. The objective of this section is to discover still valid values left by the incident and find ways to live up to them. The story of the current generation who remembers the May 18 Uprising is introduced along with the works of artist Kyung-ok Lee. You can also see Korean paintings by the artist, who delivers the stories of unsung heroes and “great, ordinary citizens” who kept their daily lives.
- artist Ogiri
03. “Making Up Something That Did Not Happen“ raises questions about what we should resist now and how close the world Gwangju citizens dreamed of on May 18 to the one we are living now. We paint the picture of an ”united world“ we all dream of, by defying authoritarianism in everyday life, pursuing a world of more equality, and trying to remember memories.
- artist Geum-bi Park, Ishima, Min-gyu Hwang
4. 7 Years of Record, May 18 Special Exhibition SOS Scenery IV Photo Exhibition October 5~20, 2021
The May 18 Memorial Foundation and Thursday Photo held a special photo exhibition, “SOS Scenery IV” in the exhibition room (B1) of the May 18 Memorial Cultural Center from October 5th to 20th.
The “SOS Scenery IV” photo exhibition featured over 60 photos of four artists (Hyung-joo Kim, Seok-ki Gyeon, Su-kyung Eom, and Seong-guk Im) affiliated with Thursday Photo, who reinterpreted the historical sites of the May 18 Uprising.
These photos have been taken by the artists over a period of seven years to capture the traces of the May 18 Uprising, including the former site of the 505 Security Unit, former Gwangju Military General Hospital, and former Gwangju Prison. The artists followed the statements and memories of the May 18 victims and brought back collective memories from their perspectives. The walls of the prison remaining intact after decades, covered with arrowroot vines, are the metaphor of collective representation.
We thank the late artist Hyung-joo Kim, who worked tirelessly to ensure the “SOS Scenery” photo exhibition to be continued. This exhibition will also feature his photos, taken between 2015 and 2020 with great efforts, of the old site of the 505 Security Unit, former Gwangju Military General Hospital, and former Gwangju Prison.
5. May 18 and Women Archive Exhibition “Disappearing and Living” (November 10, 2021~February 28, 2022)
“The hidden ones and the silent ones, can’t they be the protagonists of history?”
“Women are citizens just like men.”
The May 18 Memorial Foundation will hold an archive exhibition
Thus far, the May 18 Democratization Uprising has been dealt with from a perspective centered on the (male) civilian protestors, as priorities were placed on punishment of those responsible and the investigation of the truth. In this exhibition, however, the Foundation pays attention to women's activities during the May 18th Democratization Uprising, that existed somewhere between “disappearing” and “living”. In addition, it is expressed in the exhibition space that women’s activities, though they could not receive much attention, did not disappear but have continued since May 18 to this day through various actions and solidarity.
Epilogue. Visitors to the exhibition can experience making “ribbons” as the ones made by the “Songbaekhoe” during the Uprising. The ribbon mourns the victims to social tragedies and disasters, such as the Sewol Ferry sinking and COVID-19, and represents aspirations for tomorrow.
The May 18 Memorial Foundation sought to shed light on the “women” set in the frame of narrative and images of the uprising, and the activities of women who have historically been independent members of our society. The Foundation will support research about women during the May 18 Uprising and further expand programs involving women in Gwangju.
