The National Museum of Korea has many things to offer throughout 2017.
On Jan. 23, museum director Lee Young-hoon released a list of six special exhibitions that will entertain museum-goers this year as he briefed the press on the museum’s main projects for the new year.
“Arabia’s Path — History and Culture of Saudi Arabia” (아라비아 길 — 사우디아라비아의 역사 문화) is slated for May 9 to Aug. 27. It will take visitors through the history and traditions that have existed and flourished across the Arabian Peninsula. It’s the first-ever exhibition in Korea to focus on the history and society of Saudi Arabia. Inquisitive visitors will encounter a total of 466 works of Saudi art, such as stone statues of human figures that date back as far as 4,000 B.C. The exhibits on display will be on loan from 12 museums, including the National Museum of Saudi Arabia.
‘Unbutton France’s Contemporary Clothes’ is slated for May 9 to Aug. 27. It will chronicle the transition of clothing trends over recent and modern times in France.
Another exhibition on its way will feature 1,815 historic remains that trace the history and transition of contemporary clothes and accessories in France. “Unbutton France’s Contemporary Clothes” (프랑스 근현대 복식, 단추로 풀다) will put under the spotlight things like buttons, garments and jewelry, as well as paintings and photographs. The exhibition will run from May 9 to Aug. 27.
“Treasures That German Kings Loved” (왕이 사랑한 보물) will shed new light on art, clothes and other historic treasures found in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, in Germany. Dresden is known as the hub where Baroque art prospered between the 17th and 18th centuries. More than 140 historical items from the city, spanning military uniforms and statues through to accessories and jewelry, will be on display here from Sept. 19 to Nov. 12.
‘Cultural History of Steel,’ set to kick off on Sept. 26, will have on display about 200 historic legacies made of steel during its two-month run. Pictured is a breastplate of steel armor dating to the ancient Gaya Confederacy.
A set of paintings, drawn between the 17th and 20th centuries in France, will be shown, all on loan from the Hermitage Museum in Russia in the “Great Artists of France, From Poussin to Matisse” (프랑스 미술의 거장들, 푸생에서 마티스). The show will exhibit more than 90 paintings by some of the greatest French artists, including Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954), from Dec. 19, 2017, to April 15, 2018.
There will be two exhibitions that focus on Korean cultural assets, too. “Cultural History of Steel” (철의 문화사), scheduled for Sept. 26 to Nov. 26, will chronicle the history of steel from prehistoric times through to today, an alloy that has influenced ancient people’s lives, power and economic industries. “Hearts of Virtuous Men Become Treasures” (선인들의 마음, 보물이 되다), meanwhile, will display a collection of historic relics, newly registered as National Treasures between 2014 and 2016, from May 13 to July 9.
The National Museum of Korea will host ‘Arabia’s Path — History and Culture of Saudi Arabia’ as one of its special projects for 2017. The exhibition will introduce the history of art and traditions that bloomed across the Arabian Peninsula, from May 9 to Aug. 27. Pictured is a stone statue of a human figure dating as far back as 4,000 B.C., just one of the 466 exhibits that will be on display here.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: National Museum of Korea
jiae5853@korea.kr
