Which cartoon character comes to mind when you think of your childhood? There might be many memorable characters including characters from children's programs, characters from animation films, and characters on display at toy stores. How about going through some daily healing by recalling memorable characters?
 

 

Healing for daily life

What character comes to mind when you describe the character like this: a white, chubby character with short legs and arms, a long tail, raised ears, and round eyes. Moonin, right! This year marks the 75th anniversary of Moomin and to celebrate, the <Moomin Original: Moomin 75th Anniversary Special Exhibition> is being held. Moomin appears in various published forms including novels, comic books, and animated films, and at this exhibition visitors can see the content and illustrations from eight Moomin novel series published between 1945 and 1970. Are you ready to fall deeper into your love of Moomin or learn about the character for the first time?
To get to the exhibition venue at "Ground City Seongsu" from Sookmyung Women's University, take Bus 463 from Hankyoreh Newspaper to Wangsimni Station, and then walk about three minutes towards Seongdong Fire Station. After a 3-minute walk, you will see your destination directly in front of you. It will take about an hour from Sookmyung Women's University to the exhibition venue. The escalator will take you down to the first basement floor. The information desk is clearly marked to help you with admissions. Ticket reservations can be made on the website or at the main entrance, but even without a reservation, tickets are still available for on-site purchase. The staff will proceed to ask you for your QR code and take your body temperature before entering because of social distancing regulations due to COVID-19. Once these procedures are complete, you are free to enter the exhibition hall.
 

 

Let's go on an adventure

The <Moomin Original: Moomin 75th Anniversary Special Exhibition> consists of six sections of adventure with Moomin. The first section is an introduction to the character that contains various explanations, which helps unfamiliar persons understand the character and its storyline or for those familiar with the character to learn about it in more detail. The next sections are 'Moomin Picture Book', 'Moomin Novels', filled with illustrations from books, 'Tove Jansson and Special Artwork', containing original paintings, and 'Moomin 3D animations'. Among the sections, This SMT reporter would like to focus on three sections that were most impressive.
The first is the 'Moomin Picture Book' section. As soon as you enter this section, you will feel like you have entered a fairy tale book. There are four pictures dated between 1952 and 1980 by Moomin author Tove Jansson displayed and they will tower over you. This is the section where the exhibition really begins in earnest. You will see and feel the enormity of the exhibition from its oversized props, and they will make you want to experience more. In this section, this reporter recommends looking for photo-taking spots because they are hidden. Second, the 'Moomin Novels' section contains the most work on display. Visitors are treated to viewings of eight novels and short stories of the adventures of the Moomin family and friends. There are illustrations and explanations right next to them. This reporter recommends visitors tread slowly through the exhibition. It would also be a good idea to wander through the exhibition with the Moomin family in your mind. Recall, it was a family who left their boring daily lives to set out on an adventure. If you keep this in mind, you will ponder deeply the message the writer was trying to convey. In this section, there are illustrations by others posted on the wall that show how much Moomin affected the artist. This reporter recommends you take pictures here. Last, 'Moominvally' provides a glimpse of Moomin's story in 3D animation. It was amazing to see displayed original paintings turned into realistic 3D characters. In this section, visitors can also see interviews with experts who explain the process of animation, so don't forget to watch the interviews. In a separate space nearby, visitors can view an animated film, so take a break here to relax and watch the film. After walking through all the exhibit sections, you will come to a large gift shop. It has diverse products on display for purchase such as school supplies, kitchenware, and accessories all related to Moomin. Also, since it is an original pictures exhibition, visitors can purchase items such as original pictures and handkerchiefs consisting of original pictures. Be sure not to miss the gift shop. The exhibition will make you feel rested and healed through stories filled with laughter, sadness, hope, and despair. You will meet and spend time with Moomin and the character's family and travel on an adventure with them as an escape from tedious daily life.
 

 

Ratings: ★★★★☆

In addition to the character Moomin, the exhibition presents Moomin novels and illustrations, so there is plenty to enjoy, especially if you are already a fan. If you think of it as just another exhibition of Moomin characters and paintings like this SMT Reporter did at first, you may consider it a waste of time. However, after visiting the exhibition, you will have found you learned a lot about the Moomin family. Even in the sections not covered in this article, the message that author Tove Jansson wants to give through the story of the Moomin family is well presented, so this reporter recommends that Sookmyungians to visit the exhibition.