Writers attending the 40th Anniversary Retrospective Celebration of Korean LiteratureProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Busan: the center of art and culture during the Korean War
When the Korean War broke out, many refugees flocked to places such as Busan and Daegu, which had not been affected by the war. Among them were many artists who came to Busan to take up their brushes and pens again, despite the difficult conditions. Busan was the center of art and culture during the Korean War.
View of a street in Donggwang-dong (and the Vienna coffee shop)Provisional Capital Memorial Hall
Coffee shops: all-encompassing cultural spaces
Coffee shops were places where artists who fled during the Korean War could relax and take comfort, as well as being cultural spaces where they could participate in a range of cultural activities. Many people fled to Busan after the war suddenly broke out, and there was very little cultural space available to them. Even so, artists produced publications and held various exhibitions, workshops, farewell parties, and memorials in coffee shops.
These included the Mildawon, Geumgang, Star, Chunchu, Nokwon, Cheongu, Renaissance, and Eden cafes in areas of downtown Busan such as Nampo-dong and Gwangbok-dong. Refugee artists in particular held social gatherings at these coffee shops in central Busan, which gave them an opportunity to interact with each other.
1st Contemporary Artist Invitational Exhibition leafletProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Refugee artworks inspired by war
Refugee artists opened solo exhibitions in Busan, as well as actively participating in large and small group exhibitions with local artists from Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do. They showed a strong commitment to the arts and were enthusiastic about continuing to hold exhibitions in Busan even during the war. A large number of novelists and poets published works after the war that were based on their experience of wartime evacuation. Among them is Kim Dong-ri's The Mildawon Era, published in the May issue of Modern Literature in 1955.
The 2nd Tobyeok Dongin Art Exhibition leafletProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Busan was a city bursting with artistic spirit during the Korean War. Artists often held exclusive group exhibitions (called coterie exhibitions) in small art galleries and coffee shops in Busan. Some of the key coterie exhibitions held around this time were the Tobyeok Coterie Exhibition was held at Figaro coffee shop in October 1953.
Various national group exhibitions were held, too, since groups of artists from the central, Busan, and Gyeongnam regions were all gathered in one place. The largest exhibition held in Busan during the war was the Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Artists, held at the National Museum in May 1953. Unfortunately, only a handful of works have been preserved to this day, but the best Eastern- and Western-style painters and sculptors of the time exhibited works there. Among them were Heedong Go, Eunho Kim, Suhyeon Noh, Gwansik Byun, Wooseong Jang, Kim Whan Ki, Sangbong Do, Madong Lee, and Kyungseong Kim.
Poem of the WreckedProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
The artists remained intensely passionate about their art, even during their harsh lives as refugees during the war. Western-style artists often painted on paper, hardboard, plywood, and silver foil because it was difficult to find canvas. Among them, Jungseop Lee stands out as a representative artist whose artistic passion remained clear to see during the refugee era.
Contents page in the April issue of Modern LiteratureProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Jungseop Lee fled to Busan, and his story is well known. He didn't have the money to buy art materials, so he would go to a US military garbage dump near his house to collect pieces of tin foil that had been used as packaging for cigarettes and chocolates, and use them to paint on. His passion for painting could not be dampened, even in a situation when it was difficult to get food.
He also interacted with other refugee artists at the Mildawon and Geumgang coffee shops, which were a haven for artists at the time. The poet Chunsu Kim even wrote a poem called Jungseop Lee Who I Met, after meeting him.
Jeon Hyuk Lim Art Exhibition leaflet (back)Provisional Capital Memorial Hall
Among the artists who fled to Busan was Hyukrim Jeon (1916–2010), an abstract painter from Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do. In 1952, he held his first solo exhibition at Mildawon coffee shop in Gwangbok-dong. Poet Chihwan Yoo (1908–67), who was from the same region, congratulated him on his solo exhibition by writing an article called The Art of Hyukrim.
Mildawon EraProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Dongri Kim, a famous Korean novelist, was another artist who worked in Busan during the Korean War. The Mildawon Era is a short novel he wrote when he fled to Busan during the January 4 Retreat in 1951. This novel was introduced in the April issue of Modern Literature, a literary magazine published in 1955.
Illustration of The Age of MildawonProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
The Mildawon Era is a novel that quite realistically depicts what Dongri Kim experienced while living as a refugee in Busan. It was all true that he met fellow writers at the Mildawon coffee shop, that they comforted each other in difficult situations, and that one of his colleagues had committed suicide.
His novel vividly conveys the atmosphere of the coffee shop at the time and reveals, in detail, the lives and mental states of artists who had suffered the ravages of war. Besides Dongri Kim, other novelists and painters visited this coffee shop during this era, including Soonwon Hwang, Kim Whan Ki, and Jungseop Lee.
The Daehan Ceramics company on the latest Busan city mapProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Daehan Ceramics Co., Ltd. and refugee painters
Daehan Ceramics, a pottery company established in Yeongdo (Busan) after liberation, provided jobs for many painters when they were struggling with no income after they fled to Busan during the Korean War. Many of the painters who represented the artist groups at the time worked there, including Eunho Kim, Kwansik Byun, and Jungseop Lee.
Daehan Ceramics painted plates—Jinyang landscape, by Pyon KwansikProvisional Capital Memorial Hall
Gwansik Byun, who is regarded as one of the leading modern Korean painters, along with Sangbeom Lee, also worked as a painter at Daehan Ceramics. His specialty was painting landscapes on porcelain plates. However, of all the hand-painted objects produced by Daehan Ceramics, most of those that survive feature everyday people, reflecting the influence of Eunho Kim.
Farewell at Busan Station (LP)Provisional Capital Memorial Hall
Busan and popular songs
The war also brought composers, lyricists, and singers from Seoul and elsewhere to Busan. New singers made their debuts and produced a lot of popular songs there. In Busan—city of refugees—people loved songs that conveyed the hardships of that life. Some of the popular songs from that time include Gyeongsangdo Lady; Be Strong, Geumsoon; and Busan, the Station of Farewells.
Be Strong, Geum-Soon theme song (LP)Provisional Capital Memorial Hall
The songs that tell stories of Busan clearly depict refugees who suffered hardship and longed for their hometowns. They also refer to the people of Busan, who treated them warmly. Other words that appear frequently in those lyrics are the names of areas that refugees inhabited at that time, such as 40 Stairs, Youngdo Bridge, and Gukje Market.
Fortune-teller under Yeongdo Bridge (from a collection of photos of Busan)Provisional Capital Memorial Hall
Be Strong, Geumsoon, sung by Hyeonin, is a song from an album released by Orient Records in 1953. It is one of the greatest hits released during the war, and soulfully depicts the plight of a refugee. It describes how, after leaving his family and being separated from his lover, Geum-sun, at Heungnam Pier during the January 4 Retreat, he leans against the railing of Yeongdo Bridge and looks up at the sky, missing them all dearly. These songs are still sung by people across the country, including in Busan.
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