For Line 1, take the Seoul Museum of History

Over 4,000 representations of the rock musical "Line 1" were given between 1994 and 2008 in Daehangno's Hakchon Theater.

The play was adapted from "Linie 1" (GRIPS-Theater in Berlin) by Kim Min-gi, a liberal icon whose songs became anthems for democracy movements thirty years ago. The collection of artifacts from the musical was donated to the Seoul Museum of History, where they're on display until October 5.

The exhibition is as usual the pretext to recreate a particular atmosphere of Seoul - here, the mid nineties, and a ride between Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station (Seoul subway line 1) as the alibi to meet fictional as well as real fellow Seoulites.

This museum is headed by a man who loves his city and mankind, and I like the way the permanent collections for recent history (1970s-1990s) have been rearranged. That's on the second floor, next to the 3D map of Seoul : there's more room for photography, and in one corner, a genuine shanty workshop to remind all visitors that the Miracle on the Han River was not a walk in the park. My heart sank because I saw exactly the same installation two years ago in real life, behind Seoul Station, not far from Kim Gi-chan's favorite neighborhoods, in an area about to be redevelopped, and where illegal migrant workers remained until the end in dire conditions...

Donated Collection of Rock Musical 'Line 1'
2011-09-08 to 2011-10-05
Seoul Museum of History : museum.seoul.kr
50 Saemunan-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea 110-062 (Tel : Dasan 120)

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