WEBZINE ACC

Library Park is a space that was created as an archive for the Asia Culture Center (hereafter ACC) to share the collected materials and findings in Asian cultural resources with expert researchers, creators, and all contemporaries alike.

Since its opening in November 2015, the ACC Library Park had 13 thematic exhibition halls on contemporary architecture, photography, music, performances, exhibitions, video art, and others, which were organized around the integrated library space and the lobby.

For the next five years, however, the exhibition and the facilities became outdated, and the concept of the archival space underwent changes according to the times as well. Because of these reasons, renovation of the Library Park space began in 2020, and in May 2021 the archival space and the lobby were partially reopened to the public.[1] On November 25, the new version of the “Library Park 2.0” was finally unveiled to the public.

Library Park 2.0 as a “flexible exhibition space”

What is, then, so special about the new Library Park? According to the person concerned, Library Park 2.0 was built according to the concept of a “flexible exhibition space.” If the Library Park of the past was organized as a fixed space, where the items to be exhibited are placed onto exhibition booths, the Library Park 2.0 is a flexible space that updates not only the facility but also the content of the exhibition.

Indeed, Library Park 2.0 boldly eschews the previous arrangement of 13 exhibition spaces arrayed next to each other and makes a more compact, 5 thematic exhibition spaces that are gathered in a cluster involving a more concise, simple traffic path. This change, of course, is nothing but an external change.

The true change that brings alive the concept of “flexible” is the content, the operating system. This means that the contents of the permanent exhibition hall, organized under five themes and now opened to the public, can be changed or updated at will despite the “permanent” part of their name. This was allowed by the great transition of the Library Park’s operating system from an object-based one to a digitalized one, and this further means that the exhibition can now be synchronized with the massive database of the ACC.

What themes will be permanent exhibition features?

Library Park 2.0’s permanent exhibition is titled “Testimony of Asian Identity and Experience created by modern and contemporary Asians.” Most Asians have the common historical elements of being subjugated by colonial rule, the Cold War, and movements for democratization. The technological civilization and the economic systems that accompanied the Western Imperial Powers created drastic changes in Asians, in terms of both internally and externally. The permanent exhibition of the Library Park 2.0 asks us, through various multimedia materials, the question of how the unique experiences of the “modernity” that Asians experienced have created the unique identity of an “Asian.”

The following is a short introduction of the five subject themes featured in the permanent exhibition. The first theme, “Asia | Efforts toward Peace in Asia,” locates the Asian countries’ history of struggles for peace and freedom as a democratic process still ongoing in different countries. The present exhibition details the journey toward independence and peace achieved by the former French colonies of Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia).

The second theme of “Asia | Asian Sounds and Music” is a reflection of the musical expressions of contemporary Asian history by Asian musicians. At present, the exhibition focuses on the music of the Vietnamese popular musician Trịnh Công Sỏn, who sang for those sacrificed under the demands of ideological conflict in the 1960s-80s Vietnam through pop, blues, spirituals, and other genres.

The third theme, “Asia | Lives of Asian Women,” examines how Asian women, as the oppressed, have led their lives as independent agents in the unique space presented in Asia. The present exhibition introduces how the works of Forough Farrokhzad, Rakhshān Banietemad, and other Iranian women directors reflect women in their films.

The fourth theme, “Asia | Modern and Contemporary Architecture in Asia,” explores the significance and characteristics of architecture in the formation of a modern state. The exhibition at the moment presents the case studies of Kim Swoo-Geun (Korea), Geoffrey Bawa (Sri Lanka), Vann Molyvann (Sri Lanka), Kenzo Tange (Japan), and other architects who investigated the ways of combining modernism with traditions.

The fifth theme, “Asia | Migration and Settlement in Asia,” presents the chaos and changes that migrants experienced between the cultural roots of the origin and the adjustment to the migrated space, and the formation of new cultures resulting from that process. The present exhibition utilizes the case of Chinese migration to Southeast Asia and the resulting Peranakan culture.

Strengthened experiential exhibitions

The exhibition space is also home to various experiential platforms. The first and the foremost is the “ACCex”: A compound word of Asia Culture Center (ACC) and exhibition/example, sounding similar to the word “access.”

ACCex is intended as an accessible platform for visitors to experience the vast archive of digital materials in the ACC without restrictions in format, character, and limitations. Its exhibition content, “Asia Culture Digital Archive (DA),” is a collection optimized to the provisions made possible through the ACCex.

Visitors to the Library Park can access the ACCex through a kiosk established at the entrance to the exhibition space through an interface akin to a magazine or a newspaper, which also supports search and other functions for the people to find and experience the cultural resources. While the present form of the ACCex is somewhat limited in the volume and the form of data, Library Park plans to ensure that visitors can use all digital devices within the Library Park to access the ACCex in the future.

The final stop in our exploration of the new Library Park is the “Asia Culture Virtual Reality (VR).” This is an exhibition space that showcases the VR materials produced and collected by the ACC. As a reflection of the current trends of VR use in digital archiving, this experiential space allows visitors to experience the architecture and urban spaces through VR technology.

The promising future at the Library Park 2.0

The five thematic exhibitions laid out in the new Library Park still retain their characteristics as fixed exhibitions, being mostly made out of printed materials pasted to panels. However, a person concerned is assuring that these panels will be gradually replaced by LED monitors, and this process will furthermore establish a mutually-connected network encompassing the entirety of the Library Park space.

If the “Asia Culture DA” contents are processed by ACC’s vast collection of the past and future and realized by the updates to the new ACCex system, it is clear that the Library Park 2.0 will establish itself not only as an impressive experiential exhibition space but furthermore an indispensable site for cultural education in Asia. It is also clear that if the list of contents to be updated can be shared regularly with the citizens, they will draw even more people to enjoy the benefits offered by the Library Park.

1) The new Library Park is made up of three spaces—spaces for books, lobby, and exhibition. The former two were partially reopened in May. This article covers the exhibition space, which was not yet revealed to the public at that time. For the review of its partial reopening, please refer to the following. https://webzine.acc.go.kr/kr/blog/menu1/1/614/

• Written by Yang Zino (zino.yang@gmail.com)
  Photography by Hwang Inho (photoneverdie@naver.com)
  
  2021.12