메인메뉴 바로가기본문으로 바로가기
네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Curators of the Buddha

The Korea Foundation invited curators in charge of Korean art collections at overseas museums to the 12th Workshop for Korean Art Curators (October 26-November 4). This year’s workshop included the participation of 39 curators from various museums in 15 countries who came together for the study and appreciation of Korea and Korean Buddhist art, in regard to a comprehensive program of lectures, seminars, and field trips.



Considering the fact that approximately two-thirds of the designated cultural heritage of the Republic of Korea is somehow related to Buddhism, it was most appropriate that this year’s curators’ workshop focused on Korean Buddhist arts under the title “The Identity of Korean Buddhist Art in East Asian Context.” From October 26 to November 4, a group of 39 participants from as many museums and academic institutions in 10 countries took part in a tour de force introduction to Korean Buddhist arts beginning with lectures and museum visits in Seoul and culminating with field trips in the peninsula’s southeast. For a first-time participant in a Korea Foundation workshop like me, this could not have been a better debut, especially as the emphasis was on the East Asian context – ideal for somebody more at home with Chinese art and archaeology.

Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
The workshop started off in Seoul with a keynote lecture by Professor Kim Lena, whose critical overview of Korean Buddhist arts set the tone for the sessions. Her lecture was followed by Dr. Kim Hae-won, curator of Central Asian collections at the National Museum of Korea, who stressed the important links of Korean Buddhist art to Central Asia, highlighting the importance of interaction and exchange for their perception. A lecture, which was a gold mine for curators, was that by Professor Choi Eung-chon from Dongguk University, who in masterful fashion covered most of the Buddhist material culture with an emphasis on metalwork such as bells and gongs. As in previous years, the Korea Foundation built the workshop around ongoing exhibitions and related scholarly events. Thanks to the G20 and the perfect timing of the workshop, we were able to witness a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition together with an accompanying international conference at the National Museum of Korea that showcased the Buddhist paintings of the Goryeo period (918-1392), especially of the 13th and 14th centuries alongside contemporary pieces from China and Japan. This exhibition is probably the first and last time that these paintings will be shown together in such quantities.
But this was just one of the many superlatives of the workshop. On the day following the Goryeo Buddhist paintings symposium, the workshop moved southeast to Gyeongju, capital during the Silla and Unified Silla periods (about 300-935). The Buddhist artistic heritage is especially rich in the valleys and mountains surrounding Gyeongju and we spent an entire day cruising from one landmark site to another. Among these were temples begun under Silla rule that after centuries of modifications, especially during the Joseon period (1392-1910), are still places of worship today, such as Bulguksa and the Seokguram Grotto. During these days in fresh air the workshop was blessed with blue skies and sunshine and turning leaves on the trees – the perfect setting. Also memorable was a visit to the site of Hwangryongsa, the former royal temple of the Silla ruling house. A small selection of the several tens of thousands of excavated finds from this site is on display in the Gyeongju National Museum. The director of this museum hosted a memorable dinner in the restaurant of a cooking school that specialised in Silla cuisine.



Korean Buddhist Art and Korean Culture
We also ventured beyond Gyeongju, and even further south to Busan. On the way there, we stopped over at Tongdosa Temple where its chief curator, Shin Yong-chul, who also gave a masterly introduction to stone pagodas, provided a just as masterly tour of the temple. In Busan, a lecture by Professor Park Eun-kyung from Dong-A University covered the important topic of Joseon Buddhist paintings, placing the many paintings from this period, still used in Buddhist temples today, in context. The recently opened museum of Dong-A University is also worth mentioning as it combines the architecture of a historic building with state-of-the-art displays.
On the way back north, the trek paused at Haeinsa Temple, where the Tripitaka Koreana, the entire collection of the Buddhist canon on woodblocks made in the 13th century, is stored. More temple visits, to Bongjeonsa and Buseoksa, followed. These visits allowed for the observation of contemporary Buddhist practice since all temples are still in use. At all of the locations we were surrounded by squadrons of middle-aged ladies in pink jackets. Unlike us, they seemed less interested in the works of art, temple layout, and architecture than in praising the deities in the various buildings and donating money. There were not just a few people here and there but large groups flocking from temple to temple. Although Korea is now almost known as a Christian country and churches are a dominant visual feature of most cities, Buddhism is also very much alive.
The return to Seoul brought us back into the modern world, complete with a tour through the Media City Seoul exhibition in the Seoul Museum of Art on the last day of the workshop. While impossible for me to judge as a newcomer, many colleagues who have attended a number of workshops seemed convinced that this was one of the best workshops ever organized. And indeed, it could not have been a better start for me in terms of receiving a firsthand impression of the Buddhist arts in Korea, attending lectures by leading specialists in the field, and networking with colleagues in Korea and from around the globe. All of this would not have been possible without the impeccable organization by the Korea Foundation. It seemed as if even the lunches and dinners were provided only after some major research effort went into finding the most incredible restaurants. And the effort was not wasted. It boosted my appreciation not only for Buddhist arts in Korea, but also for Korean culture in general. And this is what I will take home to the British Museum and my work on the Korean collections.

SEARCH

통합검색

통합검색버튼
통합검색닫기

전체메뉴

전체메뉴 닫기