'Haewoojae 1st Anniversary Concert' Successfully Held

A concert commemorating the first anniversary of the opening of Haewoojae was held on the 30th at the lawn courtyard of Haewoojae, the toilet culture exhibition hall, in Imok-dong, Jangan-gu.

The concert was held before some 500 citizens remembering the late Sim Jae-deok, watched over by a bust of the deceased erected in the center of the courtyard.

At the concert, the Cantus Ensemble led by Professor Cha Moon-soo of Suwon Women's College performed 'The Pioneer,' the Suwon Municipal Choir performed 'E lucevan le stelle (The Stars Were Shining),' and the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra Brass Ensemble performed 'A Wonderful Day in October,' among other pieces, earning applause from the attendees.

In addition, the deceased's granddaughter Sim Hwa-in and Kim Do-hyeong performed Brahms' Piano Trio No. 1, and Choi Hee-joo of Yeongbok Girls' High School, appearing as a local resident, sang 'Lascia ch'io pianga (Let Me Weep)' from Handel's opera Rinaldo, making the concert all the more meaningful.

Mayor Yeom Tae-young, who kept his seat from the beginning to the end of the concert, reminisced, "The late Mayor Sim Jae-deok dreamed during his lifetime of holding a concert here in the Haewoojae courtyard," adding, "He must be looking down happily from heaven now."

Mayor Yeom also said, "Haewoojae symbolizes the fact that Suwon is the birthplace of the world's toilet culture movement," and "Suwon City will turn the area around Haewoojae into a toilet theme park to spread that spirit widely throughout the world."

Haewoojae is a toilet-bowl-shaped house that the late Sim Jae-deok built in 2007 on his own home site of 1,994㎡ in Imok-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon, with a total floor area of 418㎡ and two stories, drawing attention for succinctly expressing the importance of the toilet in human life.

The Sim Jae-deok Memorial Society donated Haewoojae to Suwon City after Sim's death, and last October Suwon City opened it as the city's toilet culture exhibition hall, making it available to the public and spreading toilet culture.