If you visit exhibitions often or are interested in cultural assets or curation, please listen! The Pharos recommends "I, too. Curator" to such students. The "I, too. Curator" program provides students with the experience of directly planning and explaining exhibitions through curator education. The Pharos wants to find out what kind of activities curators are doing and what efforts they make to produce exhibitions in museums. In particular, this will be useful information for freshmen in 2020 who cannot go to school and are not familiar with the school programs due to COVID-19.

"I, too. Curator" members collect materials about exhibitions and conduct promotional activities at the museum under the guidance of the curator of the Sosung Museum. Simply being approved for the program does not mean that the activity is recognized. Each activity has a basic score and an activity stamp. The basic score must be at least 50 points and 10 or more activity stamps must be collected to be recognized. If the completion of the activity is recognized, KGU points will be given, and members in the top 50 percent will be given additional KGU points based on their activities during the semester. In addition, "I, too. Curator" members must participate in mandatory programs, such as meetings with writers, mentoring, related special lectures, and other special lectures. It is a method of filling the completion conditions with participating in essential activities that include knowledge that a curator should know.

The "I, too. Curator" program prepare the variety of activities. Activities are divided into special exhibition work, education, cultural events, and promotional activities. First, the special exhibition work is to comment on the exhibition online and participate in talks with artists related to the exhibition. Through docent activities, "I, too. Curator" members provide exhibition commentary and guidance during group viewing. Last year, "The Australian Mae's Family's Korean Picnic Story 2" was exhibited, and this year, the "Butterfly Effect" special exhibition is being prepared. In the field of education, mentoring and planning exhibitions are important tasks. The Sosung Museum provides middle school education programs and children's education programs for the local community, and "I, too. Curator" also supports them. Also, "I, too. Curator" participants gain knowledge and experience about the exhibition through external research. Last year, "I, too. Curator" participants visited the Gyeongsang National University Museum and learned about the exhibition "The Australian Mae's Family's Gyeongnam Picnic Story." The field of cultural events involves celebrating Dano, Dongji and Farmers' Day at the Sosung Museum every year, and "I, too. Curator" members should promote and carry out these events. This year, "I, too. Curator" members delivered 300 Dano fans to the medical staff suffering from COVID-19 as an event called "Cheer up, Republic of Korea!" In the field of public relations activities, "I, too. Curator" promotes events held in the museum on SNS and posts descriptions of the exhibition through pamphlets and videos. As the Sosung Museum runs a blog and Facebook page, "I, too. Curator" members write articles that convey the museum's exhibitions and news.

Besides the exhibition at the Sosung Museum, “I, too. Curator” members can also acquire knowledge in related fields by conducting field surveys in other regions and planning cultural events that introduce the history of Korea. By participating in these various programs, what can the “I, too. Curator” members experience and learn? The Pharos interviewed Heo Ji-hye, a three-time “I, too. Curator” member, to hear more about “I, too. Curator.”

Q. Please briefly introduce yourself.

A. Hello, I’m Heo Ji-hye, majoring in the Department of History since 2018. I also completed the 7th and 8th “I, too. Curator” programs, and I am currently a member of the 9th “I, too. Curator” session. There is a docent activity that provides exhibition commentary to group viewing in “I, too. Curator” activities.

Q. What will you focus on while preparing for this activity? (Theme of the exhibition, people’s reactions, etc.)

A. The most important aspect of docent activity is the understanding and delivery effect of the exhibition. Prior to the activity, “I, too. Curator” members come to take a look around the exhibition and learn about the exhibition and its contents with the curator’s guidance. After memorizing the commentary script, “I, too. Curator” members practice the rehearsal to get it down perfect. At the time, most of the visitors who listened to the exhibition commentary were middle school students, so to increase concentration and attract attention, its members asked and answered questions with the students about the exhibition.

Q. How have your thoughts changed about curation and exhibitions after the “I, too. Curator” program?

A. Before my experience as an “I, too. Curator” member, I had a vague understanding of the concept of curation and exhibition. I previously thought the curator was a limited role in the selection of exhibits and the production of exhibition designs, and the exhibition was only a place for presenting knowledge. However, after I did the program, I realized that the curator was in charge of the beginning and end of the exhibition while providing exhibition assistance or commentary. In this activity, I was in charge of selecting topics, researching materials, designing, selecting exhibits, producing pamphlets or books, and making activity sites. I came to know what to prepare for the future, so it is helpful for my dream to be a curator.

Also, I thought that the exhibition was not just a place to deliver information, but also a place to communicate with the exhibits and audience. Through the program, I learned that the exhibition hall is decorated with details other than just the design and exhibits. Thus, if I had only seen the exhibition from the perspective of the audience before, I can now see it from the perspective of the producer. For example, I came to focus on why exhibitors used this color for the exhibition market and why they tried to organize these things differently.

Q. Do you have anything to say to friends who hesitate or consider applying for “I, too. Curator?”

A. I recommend “I, too. Curator” to students who want to work in museums and art galleries. It is because I think it is a good activity to participate in everything from exhibition preparation to exhibition finishing and to learn about the work of the museum. The “I, too. Curator” activity was an opportunity for me to clarify my dream and check what I was lacking and what I was good at. Above all, I liked that I could satisfy my curiosity about museums or curation from the program. If some students are hesitant about applying, I encourage them to experience this activity first and to check if it fits them.

The Sosung Museum won the grand prize at the 8th Korea Education Donation Awards in 2019 and is striving to cultivate creative talent by providing excellent educational programs free of charge. Not many schools have museums on campus. It is a great opportunity to experience curators at the Sosung Museum, which promotes the value of education and Kyonggi University. “I, too. Curator” also recruits members between June and August every year, not the beginning of the semester, so it is better to check the posts of activities on the blog or Facebook page of the Sosung Museum and look for the recruitment notice on the Barun System of Kyonggi University.

Planning Editor•KIM JIN•coo0714@naver.com