Have you ever visited the Sosung Museum on the Kyonggi University campus? There are many students who know the museum is located on the campus, while relatively few students know what the museum provides. The Sosung Museum provides not only sophisticated exhibits but also a variety of programs. Thus, the Pharos wants to introduce the Kyonggi University museum to students who haven’t yet had the opportunity to experience the Sosung Museum.

  Since 1983, the Sosung Museum has given exhibits and been active in the academic area. Originally, the Sosung Museum didn’t have an independent location. Instead, it was on the sixth floor of the library on the Suwon campus. In 2005, it moved to the present building and from 2006 it has operated as the university’s museum. The name “Sosung” originated from the pen name of Sang-kyu Son, the founder of Kyonggi University.

  The Sosung Museum has items related to three topics on permanent display: agricultural folk art, folk painting and jade craft. The first gallery of agricultural and folk art items in South Korea displays agricultural implements and folk art from all over the country. Rare farming tools from the past and paintings help us understand the past. The folk art gallery is going to arouse your interest with the simple and unadorned paintings displayed. The amount of folk paintings the Sosung Museum has is the largest among all museums. Since it has a variety of paintings, the exhibition changes annually with the purpose of deeping our understanding of life philosophy and aesthetic sense of the people of that time. The gallery of jade craft displays the art of “Okjang Jang Juwon,” who has been nominated as an important intangible cultural asset.

  Another exhibit space of the museum is the project gallery. Annually changing topics captures the taste of visitors. The last project’s topic was “Final Class Party,” and the ongoing project’s topic is “Fish.” The project gallery provides a crucial benefit which is the cooperation between students and the museum. The present project is especially important because it is the result of teamwork of students and regional artists.

  There are many museums located on school campuses. However, it is pretty unique to find museums on campus that are actively operated in the way the Sosung Museum is. Every year the Sosung Museum operates five regular programs and intervening programs. Through these programs the museum interacts with the students of Kyonggi University. Moreover, the quality of the exhibits is so high, that this museum is an inspiration for other museums. Particularly regarding the programs, thanks to their well-made construction, other campus museums try to learn from the Sosung Museum. For example, the Dano hand fan event started first at the Sosung Museum and has now spread to other campus museums. However, the skills and designs related to traditional Korean paper are monopolized by the Sosung Museum.

  The Sosung Museum holds regular cultural events with non-subject programs as well as exhibitions. In the first semester, they held handmade stamp and “Dano” fan events. This year’s handmade stamp event had the name “My Other Face Name.” If you enter the activity paper contest, the museum will give handmade stamps with their names to the winners. It is popular with students because of the high quality of the seal engraving. The Dano Fan Festival, titled “The Wind Tastes Best When It Blows,” is an event in which participants could cut and paste folk paintings to make a Dano fan. In the second semester, it will hold a bar rice cake day event and “Dongji,” a red bean porridge event. Bar rice cake day is held to celebrate Farmers’ Day on November 11 every year, and it is an event in which people participate in games related to bar rice cakes. The Dongji red bean porridge event is focused on sharing red bean porridge in honor of Dongji. You can eat delicious red been porridge and eliminate works that you want to forget for a year by burning a thin piece of paper. By participating in the cultural events introduced earlier, you can receive KGU+ points as well as pleasure from the event itself.

  The Sosung Museum also offers non-subject programs for middle school students. It is now holding a free semester program called “A Museum Connecting You to Your Dream,” for which middle school students plan exhibitions by creating a career experience portfolio. At the end of the year, three teams that planned outstanding exhibitions will be selected and awarded a prize by the president of Kyonggi University.

  In the Sosung Museum, there are some programs organized by the museum, but there are also programs, such as “K.G.U.M,” “Urize,” and “I too, curator,” that are led by students on their own initiative. First, “K.G.U.M” will develop a cultural resource service to guide students through the exhibition rooms, assist in educational programs and so on. Second, “Urize” will operate in the second semester of every year. “Urize” is an event aimed at kindergarteners and it is organized by students from the Department of Early Childhood Education and the Sosung Museum. Third, there is a program called “I too, curator.” “I too, curator” assists with special exhibitions, docent services and so on. The docent service will provide explanations about the exhibits to visitors at the museum. In that, the museum offers an opportunity to receive explanations about the exhibits, it is helpful for students considering and preparing for related career paths. By participating in the program, you can get a work experience and be awarded KGU+ points or a work scholarship.

  The Sosung Museum is dedicated to planning various programs and exhibitions of high quality for students every year. If you are curious about the Sosung Museum, I recommend that you visit the museum’s Facebook page. The Facebook page of the Sosung Museum provides in detail useful information such as program announcements. Why not participate in the Sosung Museum programs using the information on the page?

71st Cub Reporter•PARK SINUI•dean0305@naver.com

71st Cub Reporter•KIM JIN•coo0714@naver.com