History of Food, Cookbooks, and Women... 'Building the World' Special Exhibition Opens

National Women's History Exhibition Hall to Host 'Building the World' Until June Next Year
Reexamining the Meaning and Value of Food Preparation and Women's Activities
34th Edition of 'Joseon Cooking Methods' Printed, Birth of Culinary Researchers and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] From the 6th to June 30, 2022, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will hold a special exhibition titled "Building the World - Reading Women's History through Cookbooks" at the National Women's History Exhibition Hall located in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, focusing on food, cooking methods, and women's history.

This exhibition was planned to reexamine the meaning and value of "cooking," which was traditionally considered women's work, through artifacts such as cookbooks and cooking utensils from the 17th century to the present, and to explore the current state of "cooking as labor," whose burden has increased due to the spread of non-face-to-face lifestyles.

The special exhibition consists of four parts. Part 1, titled "Researching, Recording, and Transmitting," explores traces of knowledge produced by women who researched, recorded, and passed down knowledge despite the constraints of their times through pre-modern ancient cookbooks, highlighting women's stories as knowledge producers.

Part 2, under the theme "The Emergence of Modern Intellectuals and New Media," introduces young intellectuals who played leading roles in various changes such as the popularity of seasonings, the introduction of Western cuisine, and the transmission of cooking methods through mass media like newspapers and radio. It also presents the activities of women seeking to inherit traditions and the birth of the profession of culinary researchers.

Part 3, titled "Cooking Methods Recommended by the Era," deals with how changes in ingredients, home appliances, and kitchen structures after liberation altered cooking methods and the conditions of housework. Part 4, under the theme "Two Kitchens," provides a space to consider the gap in household labor sharing in today's era where everyone can produce and share cooking methods, as well as the glass ceiling issue where women, though the main agents of cooking, are excluded from the professional chef field.

At the first-floor special exhibition hall of the National Women's History Exhibition Hall, from the 7th, an event will be held where visitors who post questions related to the exhibition theme on SNS after viewing the exhibition will receive an exhibition catalog and souvenirs. In connection with the exhibition, a public lecture program (Women's History Academy) targeting youth will also be held.

Jung Young-ae, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, said, "Cooking is essential for human survival and has been one of the longest repeatedly performed labors in history. I hope this special exhibition will be an opportunity to reexamine the meaning of this long-standing labor." She added, "In a situation where the burden of household chores for caregiving has increased due to the spread of non-face-to-face lifestyles, we will work together to spread a culture where all family members share household chores and care together, and also to establish professionals in the occupational field."