Kansong Art Museum reopens doors after seven-year hiatus

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Kansong Art Museum reopens doors after seven-year hiatus

A visitor looks at cultural heritages that have recently completed receiving preservation treatments at the "Bohwasubo" exhibit, the first exhibit in seven years at the Kansong Art Museum, also known as Bohwagak, in Seongbuk District, central Seoul, on Friday during the exhibit's pre-opening. [YONHAP]

A visitor looks at cultural heritages that have recently completed receiving preservation treatments at the "Bohwasubo" exhibit, the first exhibit in seven years at the Kansong Art Museum, also known as Bohwagak, in Seongbuk District, central Seoul, on Friday during the exhibit's pre-opening. [YONHAP]

 
The Kansong Art Museum, also known as Bohwagak, in Seongbuk District, central Seoul, opened its doors for the first time in seven years and five months for an exhibition titled “Bohwasubo” on Saturday. The art museum was established in 1938 during the Japanese colonial period (1910-45) by legendary art collector Kansong Chun Hyung-pil (1906-1962). Kansong is Chun’s pen name. 
 
The museum held its first exhibit in 1971 and had been holding two exhibits a year, free of charge, each spring and fall running for two weeks each. Then, in 2014, it ventured out to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul, organizing larger-scale paid special exhibits until early 2019. The museum had suspended all operations since then.  

 
Chun In-keon, director of the Kansong Art Museum [YONHAP]

Chun In-keon, director of the Kansong Art Museum [YONHAP]

 
“We hope to start off with a clean slate,” said Chun In-keon, the director of the art museum managed by the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation notorious for its closed and old-fashioned way of doing business. “We’ll communicate more actively with the public about what’s in storage and how items are being looked after.” Chun is Chun Hyung-pil’s eldest grandson.  
 
The decision comes after the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation was able to largely reduce, “though not completely,” its financial difficulties after selling the Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad, a state-designated national treasure, to HeritageDAO, a cryptocurrency-based decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) founded by a Korean-American.
 
The foundation created a huge stir after putting four national heritages — two treasures and two national treasures — up for auction since 2020. The Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad, a national treasure with a starting price of 2.8 billion won ($2.35 million) that failed to receive any bids at auction in January, was purchased by HeritageDAO last month. 
 
The crypto-currency firm returned the physical custody to the foundation along with a 51 percent stake in the treasure, but many public and art historians still raised concern over the commercialization of Korea’s important national heritages. The foundation was also embroiled in controversy last year for creating an NFT (non-fungible token) version of “Hunminjeongeum,” a national treasure.  
 
“It was like cutting off my own arm,” said Chun with a lump in his throat on Friday during a press conference held at the Kangsong Art Museum. “[The Kansong Family] will never again put Korea’s national heritages up for auction, ever again.”  
 
Chun said that unlike other large private museums, Kansong Art Museum “does not have a source of income.”
 
Bohwagak is a National Registered Cultural Heritage. It will go under renovation after the current exhibit "Bohwasubo," which kicked off on Saturday, comes to an end on June 5. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

Bohwagak is a National Registered Cultural Heritage. It will go under renovation after the current exhibit "Bohwasubo," which kicked off on Saturday, comes to an end on June 5. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

 
“[The Kansong family] does not have to pay inheritance tax for state-designated treasures, but we possess so many non-designated heritages that are still very important and valuable and are subject to inheritance tax. It was inevitable for us to settle the mounting debt for the museum to continue on,” said Chun. “Fortunately, the situation has now stabilized and we will be working very hard so that such an incident that concerns the public does not happen in the future.”  
 
Baek In-san, curatorial director of the art museum, explained why the museum’s latest exhibit “Bohwasubo” is significant.  
 
Over the past three years while the art museum was not operating, it has been building a new storage space underground to better protect and preserve some 2,000 national heritages it possesses, including 12 national treasures. The new storage space was constructed thanks to the Cultural Heritage Administration’s project to support the preservation of private organizations that possess large numbers of cultural assets.  
 
Kansong Art Museum began reorganizing the hundreds of cultural properties that have been at risk of possible damage due to Kansong’s old and outdated facilities.  
 
“We were able to carry out preservation treatments for about 1,000 items since 2020,” said Baek. “I don’t think Kansong Art Museum lags behind in the number of exhibitions it has organized or its vast collection. But we do admit that in terms of preservation, it was insufficient and we received a lot of criticism.”  
 
The exhibit showcases 32 items from that 1,000. Baek said the items on exhibit have been “carefully selected.”
 
“They are not state-designated national treasures or treasures, but non-designated heritages that are still of high value,” said Baek. “We attempt to show through this exhibit that Kansong Art Museum will start afresh and strive forward to focus on the preservation of not only state-designated heritages, but also non-designated heritages that are often in a blind spot.”

 
One of the highlights is Haedong Myeonghwajip, a collection of paintings and writings collected by Kim Kwang-guk (1418-1465). Previously, it was believed that a total of 28 paintings and pieces of writing made up the full collection, but during the recent work at Kansong, researchers were able to find two more works that are also part of the collection.

 
"Seashore of Samilpo" by Shim Sa-jeong (1707-1769) [KANSONG ART MUSEUM]

"Seashore of Samilpo" by Shim Sa-jeong (1707-1769) [KANSONG ART MUSEUM]

 
“We were able to find out the two additional works belonging to this collection after witnessing the exact same vermiculation — or the marks made by insects,” said Lee Ha-na, a curator at the Kansong Art Museum. 
 
“Seashore of Samilpo” a painting by Shim Sa-jeong (1707-1769) is also on exhibit. It looks like the artist painted the snowing scene of Samilpo, but actually the white dots are marks left by insects. Lee said that the painting is so well known for this “snowing scene” that the preservation team decided not to paint over the marks, although most of the other works in Haedong Myeonghwajip with insect marks underwent preservation treatment.  
 
First edition of Maeheonjip, a collection of literary works written by Kwon U (1363-1419) produced in 1452. [KANSONG ART MUSEUM]

First edition of Maeheonjip, a collection of literary works written by Kwon U (1363-1419) produced in 1452. [KANSONG ART MUSEUM]

 
Another important piece on display is the first edition of Maeheonjip, a collection of literary works written by Kwon U (1363-1419). This woodblock text was produced in 1452 and is a rare mid-Joseon literary work. During the preservation treatment, researchers were able to find out that the traces of words related to Jeong Mong-ju (1338-1392), a Goryeo Dynasty scholar who was ultimately executed by Taejong Yi Bang-won, the third ruler of Joseon, had been intentionally erased or torn off, and later, rewritten again.
 
“It seems like the records of such politically sensitive people during the time when this first edition was produced have been deliberately hidden,” said Lee.

 
Visitors are able to go up to the second floor of Bohwagak, but its antique-looking showcases on the floor are empty.

 
According to Lee, Bohwagak will undergo renovation when the exhibition comes to an end on June 6. An elevator will be installed and showcases will be changed to better exhibit cultural heritages.  
 
“Although this floor is empty, we wanted visitors to come up here and check out the old showcases that were used since the first exhibit in 1971 and how it looked before the renovation, as Bohwagak itself is a National Registered Cultural Heritage,” Lee added.  
 
Kansong Art Museum's new Visible Storage allows visitors to take a peek into the museum's new storage space. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

Kansong Art Museum's new Visible Storage allows visitors to take a peek into the museum's new storage space. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

Researchers work on preserving Kansong Art Museum's cultural heritages at its new Preservation Treatment room on Friday. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

Researchers work on preserving Kansong Art Museum's cultural heritages at its new Preservation Treatment room on Friday. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

 
Visitors will also be able to see a part of the newly-established storage under the museum. Through a window, visitors can check out how cultural heritages of Kansong are stored. Visitors can also view researchers carrying out preservation treatment as part of the Visible Storage exhibition.  
 
The second floor of Bohwagak is left empty so that visitors can witness its old showcases and feel the atmosphere before it goes under renovation after the current exhibit comes to an end on June 6. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

The second floor of Bohwagak is left empty so that visitors can witness its old showcases and feel the atmosphere before it goes under renovation after the current exhibit comes to an end on June 6. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

A long line of visitors wait to get into Kansong Art Museum in May 2012. [YONHAP]

A long line of visitors wait to get into Kansong Art Museum in May 2012. [YONHAP]

 
The exhibitions at Bohwagak had been known to draw so many visitors that a long line of people waiting outside the art museum was one of its best-known features for many years. But for the first time, the art museum has adopted an online reservation system. Visitors should make an online reservation to visit the museum at the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation’s website, kansong.org. The exhibit is free of charge.
 
Bohwagak opens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Seventy people will be allowed into the museum every hour.

YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]
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