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Busan’s Only Archival Achievement Sharing Event: Busan Modern & Contemporary History Museum to Host “2025 Records, Busan”

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Busan Modern & Contemporary History Museum (hereinafter “the Museum”) announced that it will host 2025 Records, Busan from November 28 (Fri) to December 7 (Sun) at the Museum’s Annex Building, providing a venue to showcase the achievements of Busan citizens’ documentation activities.

Marking its third year, 2025 Records, Busan follows the first Busan Records Festival held in 2023.
The Museum has organized this annual event to reaffirm the importance of public records and promote a culture of documentation.

In particular, this year’s program includes an achievement-sharing session (Nov. 28) and a thematic colloquium (Nov. 29) that showcase the results of the Museum’s in-house Urban Documentation School advanced course.

The opening day on November 28 at 2 p.m. will feature a presentation session highlighting the results of the Urban Documentation School’s 2024 advanced course.

Since 2024, the Museum has been operating the Urban Documentation School, a citizen-participatory program established to systematically discover and preserve ongoing aspects of Busan’s modern and contemporary history.
Among its curriculum, the advanced course was designed to enhance the effectiveness of the program and to provide graduates with opportunities for continued engagement. Focusing on re-examining local history through the voices of residents, the program selected oral history collection as its primary method. This year’s project began in February with 7 of the 14 graduates from the 2024 regular course (1st cohort).

The 2024 oral history project focused on Suyeong-dong in Suyeong-gu—once a strategic site during the Joseon Dynasty where the naval command fortress, Jwasuyeongseong, was located. The area still retains tangible and intangible traces of history. The team selected this district to illuminate its relatively overlooked local history from the 1950s to the present.
To conduct this work, seven citizen documentarians interviewed local residents, created transcripts, compiled field notes, and prepared written manuscripts.

During the event, citizen documentarians Jeong Yunsik, Choi Gowoon, Kim Kyunghwa, Jeon Yuju, and Yoo Yangsun will present the residents’ stories of Suyeong-dong reconstructed through oral history.

The annual colloquium, which explores trends and themes in documentation, will take place at 2 p.m. on November 29 under the theme “Yeongdo Records: Past and Present.”
Yeongdo-gu has long been a district where citizen-led documentation efforts have been active. To support this, the event invites photographer Jeong Namjun; landscape architecture Ph.D. Kim Sujin; cultural planner Kim Sangyeon; oral historian Jo Misung; and cultural planner Kim Dujin. Together, they will examine the history of record-keeping in Yeongdo and discuss future directions.

In addition, archival achievement booths and hands-on programs will be available.
Visitors can explore materials collected through the Urban Documentation School from 2024 to 2025, including publications, photographs, and videos. Archival achievements from Yeongdo-gu—such as publications, videos, photos, and art installations—will also be exhibited.

Meanwhile, Busan Metropolitan Corporation will participate as a partner organization. On December 6 at 1 p.m., it will operate a special caricature program titled Recording Your Today, where a professional artist will document citizens through caricatures.

Participation in the achievement-sharing session, colloquium, and hands-on program requires advance registration via the Museum’s website at http://busan.go.kr/mmch.
Archival achievement booths, however, may be viewed without prior reservation.

For further inquiries, please refer to the Museum’s website or contact the Operations Team at 051-607-8034.

Kim Giyong, Director of the Busan Modern & Contemporary History Museum, stated, “This event provides an opportunity to witness the first achievements of the Urban Documentation School, where citizens take the lead in recording local history. We look forward to the active interest and participation of our community.”