Gansong Art Museum Reopens on the 30th... Special Exhibition 'Bohwagak 1938' Showcasing the History of Gansong Art Museum

원본보기 아이콘

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) announced on the 30th that the Kansong Art Museum (Director Jeon In-geon) will reopen.

A reopening ceremony will be held on the day, with guests including the Commissioner of the Cultural Heritage Administration, the Mayor of Seoul, the Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, and members of the National Assembly expected to attend.

The district supported the Kansong Art Museum with a total of 2.3 billion KRW in national and city subsidies for the 'Seoul Bohwagak Repair and Restoration Project.' The construction began in October 2022 and was completed in March this year after one year and five months.

To commemorate the completion of the Seoul Bohwagak repair and restoration and the reopening, the Kansong Art Museum will hold a special exhibition titled 'Bohwagak 1938: Kansong Art Museum Reopening Exhibition.' The special exhibition is scheduled to run from May 1 to June 15.

At 'Bohwagak 1938: Kansong Art Museum Reopening Exhibition,' visitors can see at a glance the initial establishment process of the Kansong Art Museum and the early Kansong collection, alongside the history of Korean art from the formation of Bukdanjang (北壇莊) in 1934 to the establishment of Bohwagak in 1938.

Additionally, the exhibition sheds new light on the establishment process of Bohwagak in 1938 through the architectural drawings of Bukdanjang and Bohwagak designed by Park Gil-ryong (朴吉龍, 1898?1943), Korea's first-generation architect, which are being publicly displayed for the first time, as well as materials related to Bohwagak that Kansong Jeon Hyeong-pil (全鎣弼, 1906?1962) paid special attention to.

Along with this, previously unpublished calligraphy and painting artifacts collected by Kansong Jeon Hyeong-pil before the establishment of Bohwagak will be presented to the public for the first time after undergoing repair and restoration.

Seongbuk-gu Mayor Lee Seung-ro said, “Seongbuk-gu Office and Kansong Art Museum have had a special relationship, collaborating on the Cultural Heritage Administration’s Saengsaeng Cultural Heritage Project since 2020,” and added, “We will continue to support at the district level to protect the precious cultural heritage of the Kansong Art Museum, a treasure trove of our modern and contemporary cultural heritage, inheriting the spirit of Kansong Jeon Hyeong-pil, who took the lead in preserving our cultural heritage, so that everyone can enjoy it.”

'Bohwagak' (?華閣, National Registered Cultural Heritage No. 768) means 'a house that gathers shining treasures' and was the former name of the Kansong Art Museum established by Kansong Jeon Hyeong-pil in 1938. 'Bukdanjang' refers to a roughly 10,000-pyeong (approximately 33,000 square meters) site in Seongbuk-ri, Sungin-myeon, Goyang-gun (currently Seongbuk-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul) purchased by Kansong Jeon Hyeong-pil as a base for collecting traditional cultural assets. The land was called 'Bukdanjang' because it was located north of the old Seonjamdan site. A building for storing cultural assets was newly constructed here and named 'Bohwagak.'

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.