There was a series by Monty Don a while ago called Around the World in 80 Gardens. The East Asian segment was naturally devoted to Chinese and Japanese gardens. It is pity Korea was missed out, as the gardens of Korea have a distinct and unusual ethos. Koreans feel that nature has been good to them. […]
Heritage Category: Treasure (page 2)
Poetry in Clay at the Metropolitan Museum
Poetry in Clay, the exhibition of Buncheong Ceramics from the Leeum Museum currently at the Metropolitan Museum is seriously worth a visit, with some beautiful pots. Interesting that they also juxtapose a couple of 20th century paintings. Kim Whanki’s dot paintings really do look like the dot decoration on one of the pots # Curator […]
2011 Travel Diary day 2: the Changdeokgung and Biwon
Seoul, Sunday 1 May 2011. In previous years I had been foiled in my attempts to get to see the famous Secret Garden behind the UNESCO-listed Changdeok Palace. Either there were building works going on, or access was only via guided tour and I had missed my slot, or some other obstacle was put in […]
Poetry in Clay: Korean Buncheong Ceramics from the Leeum Collection on view at Metropolitan Museum
News of an important temporary exhibition at the Met in New York. For the duration of the exhibition, the museum’s permanent display of Korean artefacts will be in storage. Poetry in Clay: Korean Buncheong Ceramics from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art April 7 – August 14, 2011 A special loan exhibition focusing on the dynamic […]
Hahoe and Yangdong listed at UNESCO
Congratulations to historic villages Hahoe and Yangdong, “two of the most representative historic clan villages in the Republic of Korea,” and Korea’s latest inclusion in the UNESCO world heritage list, on 31 July. http://bit.ly/cqjKEl # The BBC has some nice photos of both villages, plus other UNESCO sites listed along with them including Reunion Island […]
2010 Travel Diary #25: Heo Jun and Sancheong’s herbal heritage
Thursday 6 May 2010. The mayor hurries off for an appointment: not only is the Sancheong Medicinal Herb Festival in full swing, but elections are approaching in a month’s time. In fact I’m amazed he has found time to meet with this foreign blogger at all. He leaves the rest of us to finish the […]
2010 Travel Diary #8: The Jongmyo Rituals Part 2
Sunday 2 May 2010. As we file out from the shrine after the first ceremony of the day, we mingle with the butlers who are off to have a quick breather and cigarette before the next ceremony. Already the queues are forming to get into the main shrine for the headline event at 1pm. No […]
2010 Travel Diary #7: The Jongmyo Rituals, part 1
Sunday 2 May 2010. I found it really quite hard to find accessible information online in respect of the Jongmyo rituals. Often, on the UNESCO site, there is documentation which sets out why the submitting country thinks that this particular intangible cultural property is worthy of inscription on the international list. But no such information […]
The Shining Fortress part 2: its remarkable story.
by Matthew Jackson The story which surrounds the building of the Hwaseong fortress is an extraordinary one. The fortress was originally built as part of the new Suwon city, a project initiated by King Chongjo. King Chongjo (or King Jeongjo, depending on your preferred romanization) had been greatly devoted to his father, Sado Seja, who […]
The LKL Korea Trip 2009 pt 6: Haeinsa
Monday 20 July 2009 The trip to Haeinsa is via Daegu. A quick tube journey to the inappropriately named Busan Central Bus Terminal – at the northernmost extremity of the Busan public transport system (Nopodong), and then the express bus to East Daegu station takes nearly two hours. Another tube to the Seobu bus terminal […]
The Shining Fortress part 1: its construction
by Matthew Jackson The official report by the advisors to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee concluded that the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress “represents the pinnacle of 18th century military architecture, incorporating the best of that from Europe and from the Far East. As such it has a unique historical importance”. What makes Hwaseong special? Following the editor’s […]
The LKL Korea Trip 2009 pt 5: Bulguksa and Seokkuram
Sunday 19 July 2009 More World Heritage points today. The Samgyeopsal from last night is still sitting heavily on my stomach and I don’t feel like breakfast. The 9 am KTX from Seoul Station, and the connecting train from East Daegu, went without a hitch, and bang on time. Just before I arrive in Gyeongju […]
The LKL Korea Trip 2009 pt 2: Suwon and Prince Sado’s tomb
Thursday 16 July Today the plan is to get a few UNESCO world heritage points: the Hwaseong Fortress at Suwon, followed maybe by the nearby folk village. From my base in Insadong, a one-hour tube journey direct from Jonggak station on Line 1 takes me to Suwon, armed with my guide books. A moment of […]
Exhibition visit: Smile of Buddha, the big Korean show in Brussels
The Smile of Buddha exhibition is the centrepiece of the Made in Korea festival currently showing in Brussels, which also includes photography, ceramics, architecture and video art. As the Korean ambassador to the EU says in his introduction to the exhibition catalogue, not many people in the West know much about Korea, and this exhibition […]
Crowning glory at the Smile of Buddha
Matthew Jackson reports from the “Smile of Buddha” exhibition in Brussels I had never been to the Bozar Centre (French: “Palais des Beaux-Arts”) in Belgium prior to the current “Smile of Buddha” exhibition of Korean Buddhist art. It is an impressive place (right) and I highly recommend it if you are ever in Brussels. The […]
The Sarira Casket
Matthew Jackson describes one of the Buddhist treasures in the Seoul National Museum. Of the few people I have asked who have visited the Seoul National Museum, no one has mentioned the Gameunsa Sarira Casket as the high point of their tour. When I visited the museum myself, even though I was specifically looking out […]
The Leeum Art Gallery, Seoul
A brief walk from Hangangjin subway stop (line 6) near Itaewon is the Leeum Gallery, set up by Samsung. No expense has been spared on the building itself, with prestigious foreign architects engaged to build it, and an impressive collection of artworks. The building itself is very spacious, and has three main sections. Older artworks […]