Travel

2020 Abstract This article recounts a journey from Australia to South Korea in February 2020, at the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, when global awareness of the virus was still emerging. Through visits to museums and everyday encounters in Seoul, it contrasts the high level of public health preparedness in South Korea with the relative normalcy experienced upon return to Australia. Observations of mask-wearing, temperature screening, and public messaging reveal how qu

Friends Review , Australian Federation of Friends of Museums (AFFM) August 2025 Abstract This article explores the museums of the Panama Canal as sites for interpreting one of the most significant engineering projects of the twentieth century and the complex human histories behind it. Focusing on the Panama Canal Museum and the Afro-Antillean Museum in Panama City, it highlights how these institutions present the construction of the Canal alongside the experiences of the dive

28 The Australian August 2–3, 2025 Abstract In April, a visit to Seoul revealed a city where contemporary creativity and deep history coexist with striking ease. From Sculpture City Seoul, an ambitious open-air art initiative transforming urban spaces, to the refined craftsmanship of the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, public art has become central to the city’s identity. Yet amid this modern vibrancy, the legacy of the Joseon Dynasty endures in the courtyards of Gyeongbok Palace