National Children’s Museum of Korea Opens Today
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The National Children's Museum of Korea will hold an opening ceremony to unveil its name tablet Tuesday. This is the first time a children's museum here has earned official status as a national institution.
The museum was initially created as part of the National Folk Museum of Korea in 2003 and quickly drew interest and popularity with curiosity-inspiring experiential exhibitions. The museum officially gained separate status in April.
The ceremony comes on the centennial of the establishment of Korea's first national museum.
``The launching of the National Children's Museum of Korea carries significance in that this year marks the 100th anniversary. We'll hold one or two special exhibitions that reflect children's interests and curiosity and establish a children's cultural information center to collect child-related resources,'' Park Ho-won, director of the museum, said.
Its name tablet, inscribed with a logo created by Ahn Sang-soo, a professor at the visual design department of Hongik University, will be unveiled at the opening ceremony.
The design is intended to arouse the interest of young people with colorful and familiar shapes and hangeul (the Korean alphabet).
The museum consists of exhibition and educational halls. By 2010, the museum will feature a permanent exhibition telling the story of Shim Cheong, a girl who cares for her blind father.
The museum will also open the ``street of memory,'' which will depict for children what streets were like in the past by displaying old restaurants, comic book, record and barbershops and the Pony, the nation's first automobile. Also, the institution will hold a world doll exhibition in September.
The museum is designed to provide various educational programs for schoolchildren and teachers as well as parents. Of special interest are the experiential exhibits, which encourage young people to learn through hands-on experience. In particular, the children can learn about traditional Korean folklore that is not typically covered at school, the museum said.
``The museum offers a supplementary sociology class for schoolchildren as well as for their parents and teachers. Also, the goal of the museum is to maintain close ties with schools. The museum is a cultural venue befitting children at all age levels, starting with preschool. They are always welcome to enjoy the experiential exhibits in order to feel what Korean life was like in traditional times,'' a museum official said.
The exhibit areas focus on specific topics, including traditional dress, housing, food and games. The children are allowed to handle the items on display to gain a better understanding of them. The outdoor play area is used for traditional children's activities such as spinning tops, tossing darts and rolling hoops.