By Kim Ji-myung
On July 26, 2001, my conference organizing company ConvEx Korea was selected as the planner-organizer for the "ICOM Seoul 2004" conference by the organizing committee of the event. I attended the bidding urged by my high school friend Dr. Lee, who was a director of a college museum in Seoul then. She is an expert in Roman glass from the Silla period.
I knew little about ICOM, nor about the background of the triennial conference. Was it a blessing or a curse that my staff and I were made to take on the responsibility of setting up this complicated event?
Founded in 1946, ICOM (the International Council of Museums) is a non-governmental organization with around 17,000 members in 140 countries. Until the 2004 Seoul Congress, not many Koreans knew about ICOM and its activities to promote and develop museums. ICOM also works to develop museum professionals at an international level, many of whom work at World Heritage sites with museums.
In 2001, I was a novice CEO of a newly established professional conference organizer. I launched the company at the active encouragement and half-demand (for the national interest) by the Korea National Tourism Organization. They persuaded me by saying that "Korea needs a planner-organizer of world-class congresses, run by an intellectual who cares for not only profit but the nation's image and pride."
Dr. Lee confided in me. The "hero" Paik Seung-gil who finally succeeded in bringing the ICOM conference to Korea after many years of devoted effort, had suddenly passed away. He served as the first chairman of ICOM Korea from 1993 to 1998. This former Korea Times reporter also worked as cultural director of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO. Without him, there was no "owner" of the event.
Paik was a pioneer museum professional with vision and passion. He translated the "Story of Art" by E. H. Gombrich and wrote the Open Museum Program in 1988. Without Paik, no one seemed to have any zeal or ideas, not to mention mobilizing funding and person-power.
It was in 1999 that Paik, on behalf of ICOM Korea, submitted a proposal to the ICOM headquarters in Paris to host the 2004 conference in Korea. ICOM leaders visited Seoul for a survey, and the 60th Advisory Committee approved the plan on June 7, 2000.
Between 2001 and the congress of 2004, there was much work for ConvEx to prepare for the 3,000-attendee conference and exhibition. The program had 33 concurrent sessions and 29 international committees, many of them required English, French and Korean translations.
ConvEx and the Organizing Committee began to set in place strategies to bring a record number of participants to the conference and exhibition. The group worked to encourage participation by museums in Japan and China. At ICOM 2001 in Barcelona, the Korean team attended en masse to publicize the Seoul conference.
ICOM 2004 was a milestone in Korea's history. Not only the foreign participants but the Koreans themselves were surprised to find the cultural and artistic potential of Korean museums. Everyone who had been involved in preparing, organizing, and taking part has to smile when they remember 2004.
Looking back, the most significant success of ICOM 2004, in my view, was setting up a "three-chairperson" leadership team. This included Dr. Kim Byung-mo for academic programs, Director Yi Geon-mo of the Korea National Museum for community leadership and Chairman Kim Jong-gyu of the National Trust for funding. This triad approach continues to work marvelously, fifteen years after the event.
The theme of ICOM's history from 2004 to the present is "ICOM opens up to Asia," according to its website. "ICOM held its first General Conference in Asia in 2004 in Seoul, Korea. By doing so ICOM highlighted its wish to include the Asian continent more significantly in its organization."
In fact, the Korean museum culture has not changed as much in the past century as it has over the past 10 years. The official opening of a vast National Museum in 2005 was a substantial change, while the number of registered museums and galleries increased from 400 to more than 1,000.
A special memorial meeting was organized by the Korea National Committee of ICOM on August 13, 2019, to honor the late Chairman Paik Seung-gil. It took 20 years for Korean museum professionals to recognize fully the importance of Chairman Paik's role in developing museum culture in Korea.
The writer (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is chairperson of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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I knew little about ICOM, nor about the background of the triennial conference. Was it a blessing or a curse that my staff and I were made to take on the responsibility of setting up this complicated event?
Founded in 1946, ICOM (the International Council of Museums) is a non-governmental organization with around 17,000 members in 140 countries. Until the 2004 Seoul Congress, not many Koreans knew about ICOM and its activities to promote and develop museums. ICOM also works to develop museum professionals at an international level, many of whom work at World Heritage sites with museums.
In 2001, I was a novice CEO of a newly established professional conference organizer. I launched the company at the active encouragement and half-demand (for the national interest) by the Korea National Tourism Organization. They persuaded me by saying that "Korea needs a planner-organizer of world-class congresses, run by an intellectual who cares for not only profit but the nation's image and pride."
Dr. Lee confided in me. The "hero" Paik Seung-gil who finally succeeded in bringing the ICOM conference to Korea after many years of devoted effort, had suddenly passed away. He served as the first chairman of ICOM Korea from 1993 to 1998. This former Korea Times reporter also worked as cultural director of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO. Without him, there was no "owner" of the event.
Paik was a pioneer museum professional with vision and passion. He translated the "Story of Art" by E. H. Gombrich and wrote the Open Museum Program in 1988. Without Paik, no one seemed to have any zeal or ideas, not to mention mobilizing funding and person-power.
It was in 1999 that Paik, on behalf of ICOM Korea, submitted a proposal to the ICOM headquarters in Paris to host the 2004 conference in Korea. ICOM leaders visited Seoul for a survey, and the 60th Advisory Committee approved the plan on June 7, 2000.
Between 2001 and the congress of 2004, there was much work for ConvEx to prepare for the 3,000-attendee conference and exhibition. The program had 33 concurrent sessions and 29 international committees, many of them required English, French and Korean translations.
ConvEx and the Organizing Committee began to set in place strategies to bring a record number of participants to the conference and exhibition. The group worked to encourage participation by museums in Japan and China. At ICOM 2001 in Barcelona, the Korean team attended en masse to publicize the Seoul conference.
ICOM 2004 was a milestone in Korea's history. Not only the foreign participants but the Koreans themselves were surprised to find the cultural and artistic potential of Korean museums. Everyone who had been involved in preparing, organizing, and taking part has to smile when they remember 2004.
Looking back, the most significant success of ICOM 2004, in my view, was setting up a "three-chairperson" leadership team. This included Dr. Kim Byung-mo for academic programs, Director Yi Geon-mo of the Korea National Museum for community leadership and Chairman Kim Jong-gyu of the National Trust for funding. This triad approach continues to work marvelously, fifteen years after the event.
The theme of ICOM's history from 2004 to the present is "ICOM opens up to Asia," according to its website. "ICOM held its first General Conference in Asia in 2004 in Seoul, Korea. By doing so ICOM highlighted its wish to include the Asian continent more significantly in its organization."
In fact, the Korean museum culture has not changed as much in the past century as it has over the past 10 years. The official opening of a vast National Museum in 2005 was a substantial change, while the number of registered museums and galleries increased from 400 to more than 1,000.
A special memorial meeting was organized by the Korea National Committee of ICOM on August 13, 2019, to honor the late Chairman Paik Seung-gil. It took 20 years for Korean museum professionals to recognize fully the importance of Chairman Paik's role in developing museum culture in Korea.
The writer (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is chairperson of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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