Grandmother Kim Bok-dong 1st Anniversary Memorial Exhibition 'Dream of the Butterfly' at the War and Women's Museum

From November 11 to 29... Exhibition of Calligraphy, Paintings, Photography, and Installations by 23 Citizen Artists

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The exhibition "Dream of a Butterfly," commemorating the first anniversary of the late Kim Bok-dong (1926?2019), a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery, will be held from the 11th to the 29th at the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Kim Bok-dong was a women's rights and peace activist who, after publicly revealing her experience as a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery in March 1992, traveled around the world demanding an apology from Japan. Born in 1926 in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, she was taken as a comfort woman in 1940. She suffered abuse while being moved across China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, and finally returned to her hometown in 1947, two years after liberation.

In 1993, she was the first victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery to testify about her experience at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Throughout her life, she rebuked Japan but also sent consolation money to victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. She generously supported scholarships for Korean schools in Japan and helped victims of the Pohang earthquake.

In May 2015, she was named one of the "100 Heroes Fighting for Freedom Worldwide" by Reporters Without Borders and AFP. She passed away on January 28 last year. The exhibition title "Dream of a Butterfly" originates from Kim Bok-dong’s words during her lifetime, spreading a message of hope: "Grandma butterfly will fly, so young butterflies should fly too." This memorial exhibition was made possible through donations from ordinary citizens collected via the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture’s Art Donation Together program called "Small Donations." The War and Women’s Human Rights Museum sponsored the exhibition space, and 23 citizen artists participated. "Small Donations" is a crowdfunding program supporting art projects.

The citizen artists ranged in age from teenagers to people in their 60s and came from various professions. They met through participation in a joint exhibition promoting everyday arts organized by Mapo-gu and the Mapo Cultural Foundation. They reunited to reflect on the painful history that still exists in our lives and to widely share a message of hope. Their desire to remember a history that must not be forgotten is expressed through various visual media including calligraphy, painting, photography, and installations.

As part of the memorial event, on the first day of the exhibition, the 11th, at 7 p.m., singer-songwriter Song Eun-ji (vocalist of the Small Acacia Band) will perform a song included in a compilation album produced for the victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery. The "Dream of a Butterfly" exhibition is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with admission closing at 5:30 p.m. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Admission fees will be used to support the operation of the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum and the activities of the Justice and Memory Foundation aimed at resolving the Japanese military "comfort women" issue and stopping violence against women in exhibitions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.