‘Asian Odyssey’ Enjoyed by the Visually Impaired... Audiobook Publication of ‘Asia’s Pyohaerok’

Pukyong National University and Asia Culture Center Strive to Facilitate Exhibition Viewing for People with Disabilities

Exhibition scene of 'Asia's Pyohaerok'.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The ‘Asian Odyssey’ of several Westerners who drifted across Asia during the Joseon Dynasty has now become accessible to the visually impaired.

Pukyong National University (President Jang Young-soo) and the Asia Culture Institute (Director Lee Ki-pyo) have joined forces to provide cultural exhibition viewing opportunities for people with disabilities.

Recently, Pukyong National University and the Asia Culture Institute published three volumes of the audiobook titled “Connecting the Asian Seas,” created from the exhibition content of “Asian Maritime Records.”

The exhibition “Asian Maritime Records,” held at Pukyong National University’s Jangbogo Hall in July and August last year, showcased drift records discovered throughout Asia from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

The newly published audiobook was produced by reorganizing the exhibition content with the help of the Busan Braille Library and the Gwangju Braille Library.

The exhibition featured key contents from the maritime humanities series “Asian Maritime Records” and “Joseon Drift Diaries,” jointly published through over three years of collaborative research by Pukyong National University’s Humanities Korea Plus Project Group (Director Son Dong-joo) and the Asia Culture Institute’s Asia Culture Research Center.

Seven drift records from Korea, China, Japan, and Vietnam included in “Asian Maritime Records,” along with East Asian maps and images of old books, were exhibited for the first time in Korea. These precious contents have now been produced as audiobooks, allowing visually impaired individuals to enjoy them by listening.

During the exhibition, Pukyong National University and the Asia Culture Institute also produced and provided braille leaflets, as well as braille versions of the exhibition title, catalog, and some content such as ship images. They also offered exhibition interpretation services to lower barriers for disabled visitors.

The newly published audiobooks will be distributed to visually impaired libraries nationwide through the National Library for the Disabled and the National Alternative Materials Sharing System (DREAM).

Son Dong-joo, director of Pukyong National University’s Humanities Korea Plus Project Group, said, “We are pleased that Pukyong National University in Busan and the Asia Culture Institute in Gwangju have achieved results by cooperating beyond regional boundaries to realize cultural and artistic exchange and social values. We will continue to ensure that many people can enjoy diverse research outcomes.”

Braille catalog for the exhibition "The Asian Maritime Records".

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