This year's 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War has been initiative for myriad performances, exhibitions and even big-production war films. From private ads in New York's Times Square thanking American veterans to big-production war films and memorials to those who fought in the war can be found everywhere.

The Daelim Contemporary Art Museum's memorial to the war is ``On the Line,'' a special group exhibition organized in conjunction with the Ministry of National Defense. Ten of the country's renowned photographers created 170 new works for the show, exposing fresh insight to the pivotal war.

``Existing photographs about the war have either documentary or journalism values, so for this exhibition we attempted an artistic interpretation of the war,'' said Shin Sue-jin, the exhibition's director.
The participating photographers are well-known names, including Oh Hein-kuhn, Nanda, Kang Woon-gu and Koo Bohn-chang. The unique perspectives from both the young and old _ the photographers range in age from 37- to 70-years-old _ look to reopen a dialogue between the generations.

``Rather than explain the war to young people with words,'' said ministry representative Won Tae-jae, in reference to the emotional distance today's generations have toward the war. ``I think it's a better method to approach them with art photography.''

The group had an opportunity to shoot within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) earlier in the year, under close guard and following the area's regulations. Each artist managed to capture their own style and view within the sensitive border, focusing on varied aspects of the war.

``Corporal Kim Yun-ki'' by Oh Hein Kuhn is on display at Daelim Contemporary Art Museum through Aug. 20. /Courtesy of Daelim Contemporary Art Museum
Joo Myung-duck took a series of close-up portraits of war veterans, revealing solely the face of each subject. The faces line one of the walls in the gallery, providing an intimate look into their countenances. Joo also shot wide landscapes of the area around the DMZ, giving his pieces a subtlety that speaks of passing time.

The colorful works of Nanda speak out boldly with their contemporary elements (in one piece, the artist can be seen sitting on a bright couch), and a sense of surrealist fantasy is prevalent in each photo. In ``JSA,'' tourists are depicted at the famed blue conference houses that straddle the two Koreas. The oddity: the demarcation line has been moved and the seamless image in fact shows the viewpoint from both the north and the southern sides.

The exhibition reflects the distinct styles of each artist as well as the time context in which they were active. Joo, the oldest photographer at 70, used gelatin silver prints, which provide the muted gray tones that characterize his work. Conversely, the younger photographers like Nanda, 41, freely used digital cameras or photoshop and incorporated other multimedia elements into their work.

As an eclectic array of artistic voices is in the exhibition, each was able to find a connection to their shared subject matter.

``I was actually planning on doing a piece on soldiers by myself anyway,'' said Oh Hein-kuhn, ``But it wasn't coming out right.'' Oh explained that collaborating with the other artists was a good experience, even though each of them was used to working alone.

The exhibition seeks to commemorate the tragedies of the war by reopening communication with modern culture. Walking through the galleries, it's difficult to not feel the sense of camaraderie embedded into the works and their mission.

``On the Line'' is on display through Aug. 20, before traveling for exhibitions in the United States and the United Kingdom. An English- and Korean-language catalogue with information about the exhibition will be distributed to the 16 countries that helped fight in the Korean War.