Introduction
THE STORY OF DIVIDED FAMILIES
This exhibit captures the deeply personal impact of this separation through the recreation of two living rooms—one from North Korea and one from South Korea. These spaces are more than just rooms. They symbolize the starkly different lives shaped on each side of the border and how families remember their loved ones across the divide. This year's theme, “The Story of Divided Families,” allows us to examine the line between two worlds, with each room’s ordinary objects telling stories of separation that span decades and continents.
The North Korean living room offers a glimpse into the everyday life of its citizens. Hidden within this space are significant details—illicit media concealed in cookware and letters left on tables—that speak to the realities of life under a repressive regime. In contrast, the South Korean living room, styled in a contemporary hanok, is bright and vibrant, representing modern life with its open access to information, technology, and global connections. While South Korea has thrived through technological advancements, it still bears the weight of a divided history and the absence of family members who remain in the North.
Together, these two rooms offer a visual and emotional narrative of a once-unified culture that has split into two vastly different realities. They highlight the profound and ongoing human cost of division. This exhibit also sheds light on the experiences of those whose families were separated not only by war but also by North Korea’s actions, including the abduction of Japanese and South Korean citizens, the detention of Korean War POWs, and the forcible repatriation of North Korean escapees. These actions have deepened the pain of separation for many families across the border and around the world.
"The Story of Divided Families" is both a memorial and a call for justice. It reminds us that behind every headline are real people—parents, children, relatives—yearning for reunions that are continually denied. It urges the world to see beyond the politics and recognize the human cost of this division. Let this exhibit stand as a testament to the resilience of those who continue to wait, and as a powerful reminder that the fight for truth, justice, and family reunification must never be forgotten. Only through collective action can we hope to tear down the walls that separate families and bring them back together.