The Seoul Metropolitan Government on July 31 announced its hosting of culture and arts events across the capital to mark the 80th Liberation Day (Aug. 15). Shown is a bell-ringing ceremony on Aug. 15 last year. (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
By Charles Audouin
The city will hold a weeklong celebration ahead of the 80th Liberation Day (Aug. 15) starting with a proclamation ceremony for Liberation Week on Nodeulseom Island, which is located at the center of the Hangang River. The island will be decorated with symbolic sculptures including a large installation of the national flag Taegeukgi, 1,000 pinwheels and portraits of female independence activists.
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on Aug. 15 will hold a concert to mark liberation at the concert hall of Seoul Arts Center in the city's Seocho-gu District. The Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Seoul the next day will host a large-scale outdoor concert featuring famous songs from the musicals "Hero" and "Les Miserables" at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall.
The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture's Daehangno Theater Quad from Aug. 14-15 will present the musical "Train No. 37," the story of the 1937 forced migration of Koreans to Central Asia. As a joint work by artists from Seoul and Kazakhstan, the work will tour Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The traditional bell-ringing ceremony on Liberation Day at Bosingak Belfry in downtown Seoul, a custom dating back to 1949, is slated for 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 15. The 33 rings will honor the country's fallen patriots and a public choir of 230 people will perform.
Concerts will also be staged at Unhyeongung Palace, Namsangol Hanok Village and the lobby of the Seoul Museum of History.
Exhibitions will also highlight the meaning of liberation.
The Seoul Museum of History from Aug. 5-31 will host an exhibiton honoring the pro-independence movement by Lee Sang-ryong (1858-1932), the first prime minister of the Korean Provisional Government. Another exhibition there through Nov. 9 displays items related to Liberation Day owned by the public.
Through April next year, an exhibition spotlights the provisional government and another displays the interwined paths of Albert Wilder Taylor (1875-1948), an American correspondent for The Associated Press, and his co-worker Kim Ju-sa until June next year.
Also planned are field trips and educational and interactive programs for the public.
More information on such programs like their schedules and preregistration are on the Seoul Culture Portal (culture.seoul.go.kr).
caudouin@korea.kr