Sunday 5 May 2019. My leisurely weekend in Taean was coming to an end, but Chris and Eunok are always generous enough to take me the scenic route to Cheonan Asan station before I catch the KTX down south. We had a relatively early start to the day: we wanted plenty of time to get … [Read More]
Tag: Buddhist art
2018 travel diary 3 – The Smile of Baekje
10 – 11 November 2018. My trips to Korea are usually preceded by a hurried piece of research on the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) website trying to find out what notable items of tangible or intangible heritage, or what other historic or scenic sites there might be, to attract an inquisitive traveller to the places … [Read More]
Shin Yong-il: Into the Void, at Han Collection
Shin Yong-il’s work, brought by Gallery Do, was for me the highlight of the Korean artists at last year’s London Art Fair, so I’ll definitely be looking in at Han Collection to spend more time in its company: Shin Yong-il: Into the Void Han Collection | 33 Museum Street | Bloomsbury | London WC1A 1LH … [Read More]
2016 travel diary 8: Buyeo’s Jeongnimsa Temple Site
Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, 16 May 2016, 4:45pm. The sun is still hot as we arrive at our destination. We walk slowly, as there is little shade, past the ticket office to where is a wide, flat open space in the middle of which is National Treasure #9: the five storey stone pagoda of Jeongnimsa Temple. Is one allowed … [Read More]
2016 travel diary 2: Buddha’s Birthday
Jongno, Seoul, 14 May 2016, 9am. Coffee with the Drawing Hand My first appointment of the day is at 9:30am with Kim Jieun, aka The Drawing Hand: I am due to pick up the original of her 2015 Christmas Card design for LKL – and also I am due to pay her the balance of … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 10: Namhansanseong and the Gangnam Tombs
Myeongdong, Seoul, Sunday 7 June The Mountain Fortress I am scheduled to meet a friend at 9:30 at Sanseong Station on Line 8. From there we take the bus (number 9) via a circuitous route through a residential area and up the steep hill to the main car park of one of Korea’s latest UNESCO … [Read More]
Wisdom & Compassion – an exhibition of Buddhist art at Mokspace
To mark Buddha’s Birthday (17 May this year), Mokspace’s latest exhibition, which opens 14 May, is of contemporary Buddhist art. Note also the meditation class, lotus lantern making and tea ceremony events, which need to be booked in advance. Wisdom & Compassion Jewoo Jeon, Sooyung Lee, Sukhi Barber, Suzanne Rees Glanister, Venerable Sulgok Opening Reception: … [Read More]
2012 Travel Diary #21: Seong Cheol’s birthday, Park Chan-soo’s museum and Gaya period tombs
Sancheong County, Gyeongsangnam-do, Saturday 31 March 2012. The impact of the love shots is still fogging my brain when Mr Yoon arrives at 9:30 in the morning. Today, he is accompanied by his wife, who is to join us for the morning. It is, after all, a Saturday, so Mr Yoon is working overtime on … [Read More]
Exhibition Visit: An Eternal Cycle at Mokspace
In a hectic London Korean exhibition calendar which often seems biased towards installations and video art, we should welcome an exhibition which features well executed paintings which you would happily hang on your wall. Mokspace’s current exhibition, An Eternal Cycle – Paradise and Purgatory, is doubly unusual in featuring Buddhist-inspired paintings. Such work is rarely … [Read More]
An Eternal Cycle: Paradise and Purgatory – at Mokspace
Mokspace is maintaining a cracking pace of exhibitions. The next one, of Buddhist art, runs 14 October till 10 November: Mokspace is pleased to present the Buddhist Painting exhibition “An Eternal Cycle: Paradise and Purgatory” with artists Seoyoung Park and Songnyeo Lyoo. Man has tried to understand the mystery of death since he first walked … [Read More]
Rediscovering the Lost Kingdom of Baekje
History, according to the saying, is written by the victors. The unification of the three kingdoms of Korea under Silla in 668 AD solved the problem of constant war in the peninsula, but created a significant problem for modern day historians, in that very little of the culture and heritage of Baekje (BC 18~AD 660) … [Read More]
Abstracts: Korean Buddhists Arts of the Koryŏ and Chosŏn Kingdoms
Here are the abstracts for the series of talks on Korean Buddhist arts at SOAS on 19 May 2011: Gyeongwon Choe (Kansas University) Marginalised yet Devoted: Buddhist Paintings Commissioned by Nuns of the Early Joseon Palace Cloisters This lecture examines the three extant Buddhist paintings commissioned by Buddhist nuns in the palace cloisters of the … [Read More]
Korean Buddhists Arts of the Koryŏ and Chosŏn Kingdoms
Last year was court painting; the year before it was folk art. Now we move on to Buddhist art. Details of the full day seminar, with a behind-the-scenes look at artefacts in the British Museum, are below. Korean Buddhists Arts of the Koryŏ and Chosŏn Kingdoms 10am on Thursday, 19 May 2011 G3, Main Building, … [Read More]
Buddhist art collection for sale
The largest collection of Korean Buddhist paintings outside of Korea starts to come under the hammer at Christie's: The Jerry Lee Musslewhite Collection of Korean Art http://bit.ly/aCYEqu # [Read More]
Park Chan-soo gives Buddhist art a new voice
Most classic representations of Buddha, and indeed many items of Buddhist art more generally, are quiet and pensive. As they have come down to us, they are painted in subdued and muted colours, or left in simple undecorated stone or metal. At her lecture at the KCC last week, Park Young-sook pointed out that originally … [Read More]
KCC Lecture: Tradition and Innovation of Korean Buddhist Sculpture
News of this month’s Global Korea lecture at the KCC: Tradition and Innovation of Korean Buddhist Sculpture By Professor Youngsook Pak (SOAS) Date & Time: Wednesday, 19th May 2010 6.30pm Venue: Multi-purpose Hall, Korean Cultural Centre UK Email to [email protected] or call +44(0)20 7004 2600 to reserve your place About the Talk As part of … [Read More]