The mayor of Cheongju city, Beum-deuk Han, spoke about the cultural value of Cheongju in an interview with Los Angeles Times Asia Journal. The interview will be given below.
Cheongju is a city steeped in the history of civilization, the mayor Han said with pride by explaining the cultural history of the city. The Jikji, the world’s oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, was published in 1377 in Cheongju and is kept as a unique book in the Manuscrit Orientaux of France National Library. It was rediscovered in 1972 in France. After the Buddhist temple, which was the birthplace of Jikji, was excavated in 1984, the citizens of Cheongju have made every effort and have made lots of progress. Thanks to these endeavors, the Jikji was registered as a Memory of the World and it was decided to confer on the Jikji Prize under the authority of UNESCO.
To reinforce its reputation as a cultural city more globally, Cheongju Craft Biennale was held in 1991 as the first craft biennale in the world. During the past twenty years, “Cheongju has shared considerable connections with global museums and artists, which would consolidate its global competitiveness”, said the mayor.
The biennale site, Cheongju Culture Factory, is quite epoch-making in urban restoration. It is a remodeled place from a cigarette factory to an art museum. The mayor explained that a cigarette used to be manufactured in Cheongju, which propped up the local economy. However, during urbanization, most of the factories were relocated to suburban areas and so did the cigarette factory. During his first tenure as a mayor, when it was the early period of urban restoration policy, he made a policy suggestion to refurbish the site into a space for art. Now it became the fourth National Museum of Contemporary Art. It is the only ‘Schaulager’ in Korea, which is modeled on an openness museum where the art preservation process is open to the public. Visitors can see artworks in a visible storage. “It gave a lesson to Korean policymakers that creating a new storytelling based on the old would be more valuable than replacing the old things completely by the new”, he added.
The mayor Han showed his opinion that the local autonomy should be based on the unique culture of the region itself. He said that he will make Cheongju a global cultural city by holding the Cheongju Craft Biennale successfully. He thinks that the city can enjoy economic added value through the international event. He still has upcoming plans to develop more art and modern infrastructures in the city. There will come the momentum that the new infrastructures including Osong Station and Cheongju Airport will interconnect with the old and historic values including Cheongju Town wall and Cheongju Culture Factory. “Finally, Cheongju will become a successful combination of old and new,” the mayor said with a determined voice.
Kayla Hong
Asia Journal
