National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and Hanyang University Baeknam Academic Information Center Sign Art Book and Material Sharing Agreement

The inaugural issue of "Hyundai Munhak" from January 1955, donated by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to the Baeknam Academic Information Center. The cover illustration was painted by Kim Whanki.
Photo by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) announced on the 18th that it signed a mutual cooperation agreement on the sharing of books and materials in the fields of modern and contemporary literature and art with Hanyang University Baeknam Academic Information Center on the 14th. The Baeknam Academic Information Center of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art stated that this agreement aims to promote academic research and build exhibition materials.

According to the agreement, the Baeknam Academic Information Center will donate part of the Gurumjae Library materials to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The Gurumjae Library is a collection established based on materials donated by Gurumjae Park Byung-soon (1917?2008), a modern sijo poet and pioneer of exclusive use of Hangul, to Hanyang University from 1994 to 2007.

The materials donated to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art include a total of 1,916 volumes of 20 types of literary magazines featuring cover paintings by modern and contemporary painters such as Kim Whanki, Chun Kyung-ja, Park Go-seok, Jang Uk-jin, and Han Muk. These include magazines such as "Hyundae Munhak (現代文學)", "Munmaek", "Munhaksasang (文學思想)", "Hanguk Munhak (韓國文學)", "Hyundae Sihak (現代詩學)", "Sido (詩圖)", "Simunhak (詩文學)", "Pyohyeon (表現)", as well as "Munye (文藝)" and "Sijo Munhak (時調文學)", whose titles were written by modern and contemporary calligraphers.

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art plans to permanently preserve these materials through conservation treatment, digital archiving, and continuous management, and utilize them for research and exhibitions. The Baeknam Academic Information Center will share the digitized archived materials and continue to access the donated materials to encourage research advancement in the humanities and social sciences.

Among the donated books, 54 volumes will be exhibited to visitors at the "When Art Meets Literature" exhibition held at the Deoksugung Pavilion in February.

Yun Bum-mo, director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, said, "This agreement is an intermediate result of years of cooperation sought between the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and university libraries within the broader framework of cultural research. Based on the donated books, we will strive to enhance the capabilities of modern and contemporary art research and actively utilize them as exhibition materials to continuously provide visitors with in-depth research outcomes and high-quality exhibitions."