KF뉴스레터-Fascinated by the Beauty of Korean Art

Fascinated by the Beauty of Korean Art

Dr. Helena Honcoopová, Director of the Collection of Oriental Art, National Gallery in Prague, the Czech Republic, recently visited Korea as a guest of the Foundation. Dr. Honcoopová, whose affection for Asian art is so deep that she played a lead role in the establishment of a Korea Room, at the Collection of Oriental Art in June 2007, was asked about her impressions of Korea and its museums.

Q. You visited several museums during your stay in Korea. What were your thoughts about the museums here?
A. They were really great. I found the architecture of Leeum, the Samsung Museum of Art and the National Museum of Korea very impressive. And their collections were great. I thought that each object on display was treated importantly and well maintained I also liked the arrangement in consideration of visitor circulation. In the Czech Republic, historical buildings are often used as museums and art galleries. Such buildings look great and are historically valuable, but they are not easy to renovate and make visitor-friendly because they are very old. The most impressive thing about the museums in Korea is that the scale of display is grand and huge in general, but it still enables visitors to communicate emotionally with the exhibited items. While touring the museums, I was pleased to sense an emotional attraction to the artifacts on display. Visitor circulation, visitor-friendly structure, and many other things about the Korean museums deeply impressed me.

Q. We are pleased about the opening of a new Korea Room, as part of the Collection of Oriental Art last year, thanks in large part to your efforts.
A. To discuss this project, I have to first mention the history of Czech art. Collecting non-European artworks became popular with the Czech people, especially the nobility, from the 17th and 18th centuries. But items of Korean art were hardly accessible, because of the Japanese colonial rule. Even after that, there was not much exchange, and as a result there were only about 20 pieces of Korean artworks among the about 13,000 items of our collection. So, I started to think about whether there was any way to provide the Czech people with an opportunity to see more Korean art. Eventually, this led to the establishment of the Korea Room at the Collection of Oriental Art. In fact, we had been discussing the development of a Korean gallery for about ten years. We also discussed organizing an exhibition with the National Museum of Korea, from about six years ago. At the moment, I am pleased that about 70 items of Korean art from the National Museum of Korea are being exhibited at the Collection of Oriental Art, National Gallery in Prague.

Q. How would you describe the reaction of Czech audiences to the art of Korea?
A. The Korea Room is currently surrounded by the photographs of the Seokguram Grotto, while the exhibited works are mainly ceramics and Buddhist artworks. The Czech people are very much surprised to see all of these wonderful artworks. As mentioned earlier, they did not have many opportunities to observe Korean art and therefore thought that the art of Korea might be similar to that of Japan and China. However, visitor comments clearly show how much they admired Korean art, along with appreciating the beauty unique to Korea and different from other Asian art.

Q. With the Korea Room now open and your visit to Korea, do you foresee an increase in Czech-Korea cultural and artistic exchange?
A. Of course. My country was the first place that a curator from the National Museum of Korea visited after concluding the relocation to Yongsan, where a new chapter has been opened in its history. At that time, the curator who visited showed us photographs of the new museum. I was so excited at the thought that I would be seeing the museum with my own eyes. And I found the museum far larger and more beautiful than I had imagined. I hoped that I could learn more about Korean art through my visit, and it was indeed helpful in that regard. Especially, I now plan to organize an exhibition on Korean art, in conjunction with the relocation of the Collection of the Oriental Art to the center of Prague. So this visit has been helpful for preparing for this exhibition.
There is one interesting point that I always mention whenever I talk about this visit. It is about the fact that I was able to visit Korea this year because I was born in the year of the rat, while 2008 is the year of the rat as well. Perhaps I have acquired an Asian way of thinking as I have long been exposed to Asian art.

Q. Along with overseeing the relocation of the Collection of Oriental Art, what else will you focus on when you return home?
A. Returning home, first of all, I would like to put all my energy into the organization of the Korean art exhibition, as well as the relocation of our collection. As for our collection, no one here has a systematic education about Korean art.
So I want to train a curator who will be in charge of Korean art. In the presence of Korean art, it gave me a sense of comfort and familiarity, in addition to it being emotional, vivid, and simple. I hope to introduce contemporary Korean art as well as traditional Korean art, through a variety of exchanges. Personally, I think Korean ceramics are the best in the world. Whenever I see Buncheong ware and white porcelain, I get intoxicated by their graceful beauty. I intend to create many opportunities to introduce the beauty of Korean art by organizing various exhibitions and workshops.

SEARCH

#Arts #KF #Seminar #KOREA

Fascinated by the Beauty of Korean Art

SEARCH

전체메뉴