Praising 10 traditional Korean architectural structures, ‘A Homage to Korean Architecture - Wisdom of the Earth’ (Leeum, Hannam-dong)

Sungkyunkwan University(SKKU) Museum has planned a visit to ‘A Homage to Korean Architecture-Wisdom of the Earth’, as the first Staff Cultural Event of the year. ‘A Homage to Korean Architecture-Wisdom of the Earth’ is a carefully designed exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of Leeum Museum located at Itaewon, Seoul and 50th anniversary for the Samsung Foundation of Culture. It selected ten traditional architectural structures including Haeinsa Temple, Bulguksa Temple, Tongdosa Temple, and Seonamsa Temple, Jongmyo, Changdeokgung Palace, Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Dosan Seowon, Soswaewon Garden, Yangdong Village and directed a three part exhibition that reinterprets the spirit of the ancestors who valued heaven(天), earth(地) and man(人). The exhibition combines past and future, art history and architecture, and analog and digital, making it three dimentional with installation works and videos of relic photos working in harmony.

In part one, the exhibition shows important Buddhist temples in which the Korean spirits are indwelled and Jongmyo, the royal shrine that well depicts the Confucian culture of the Joseon Dynasty. Part two deals with the theme ‘Management of Sites and Construction of Order’. It covers the architecture in royal palaces in addition to city walls, and government office buildings. This sheds new light to the ruling ideology of the ruling power, the management of the grounds and to the architecture. In part three, under the theme ‘Spaces of Life and Social Activity’, seowons(private academy of the Joseon Dynasty), gardens and ordinary houses are weaved together to portray the life and community of the ruling class and the ordinary people, and the architecture of harmony. Along with this, a beautiful video footage from Park, Jong Woo, the visual director and six modern photographers, Joo Myeong Duck, Bae Bien U, Koo Bohn Chang, Kim Jae Gyeong, Seo Heun Kang, and Kim Do Kyun, who spent two years filming and photographing, will be on display.

Meanwhile, invaluable ancient art pieces such as Sukcheon jeado (Illustrations of the work place) which is preserved at Harvard Yenching Library, Donggwoldo (Painting of the Eastern Palace, National Treasure no. 249), Gyeonggi gamyeongdo (Folding Screen of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office) which realistically depicted 18th Century Gyeonggi Provincial Office outside Seodaemun Gate, are on display for the first time in Korea.

We hope you get the opportunity to find the exquisite world of Korean art through this special exhibition by Leeum museum.

○ Time: 2016.01.23 Saturday 10:30-12:00
○ Location: Leeum Museum of Art, Hannam-dong
○ Subject: SKKU professors, staffs and their family, 20 people in order of arrival
○ Application: by phone from 3 p.m. 2016.01.13

    ※Special exhibition entrance fee and the explanation are complimentary.

○ Place of gathering: In front of the Ticket Sale of Leeum Museum, Hannam-dong (2016.01.23 10:20)
How to get there: from the number 1 entrance of Hangangjin station move about 100m towards Itaewon, turn right on the first alley and come up the hill for about 5 min.

○ Address of the museum: Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art 60-16 Itaewon-ro 55-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea 04348 / Tel) 02-2014-6901/ Link to Leeum Website: : http://leeum.samsungfoundation.org/