Weaving the Name ‘Chemulpo’ into a Patchwork Cloth … Special Exhibition at the Incheon Open Port Museum

An exhibition themed on the name of Jemulpo-gu District, which will be newly launched under an administrative system reorganization on July 1, is set to open. The Incheon Jung-gu Cultural Foundation will present the special exhibition ‘Chemulpo Patchwork: All about Chemulpo’ at the special exhibition hall of the Incheon Open Port Museum from July 1.

[The Korean Today] Poster for the Incheon Open Port Museum special exhibition ‘Chemulpo Patchwork: All about Chemulpo’ © Reporter Kim Mi-hee

This exhibition focuses on the very name ‘Chemulpo’ that the new autonomous district has come to embrace. By stitching together scattered documentary records, old maps, photographs capturing scenery, artworks and other diverse materials like a single patchwork cloth, it explores the historical and cultural significance of Chemulpo in a multidimensional way from various angles.

The exhibition is organized around five themes in all: ‘Record Pieces,’ ‘Map Pieces,’ ‘Scenery Pieces,’ ‘Expression Pieces’ and ‘Other Pieces.’ Each theme becomes a single piece, so that as visitors follow the exhibition, the image of Chemulpo is completed as a single patchwork cloth.

At the exhibition hall, visitors can observe how Chemulpo’s image changed across different eras through ‘Chemulpo’ as written in foreign documents and maps, materials related to ‘Chemulpo City’ that was used right after liberation, and video materials capturing the port of Chemulpo in the 1910s. Based on various maps and materials, it also sheds light on how the boundaries of Chemulpo have changed and how far the spatial scope of today’s Jemulpo-gu District extends, and introduces Chemulpo-related names that remain in use here and there to this day.

A foundation official said, “This exhibition was planned to newly illuminate the various meanings and stories carried by the name ‘Chemulpo’ by weaving together different materials,” adding, “We hope it will serve as an occasion for visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the region’s history and identity based on the diverse images of Chemulpo contained in records, spaces, scenery and culture.”

The exhibition opens on July 1 and continues at the special exhibition hall of the Incheon Open Port Museum through Feb. 28, 2027. Further details are available on the foundation’s website (jcf.or.kr). It is a noteworthy exhibition in that it reframes the administrative turning point of a new autonomous district’s launch as a cultural event that traces the region’s roots.

[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]

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