Nat'l Palace Museum exhibition highlights returned cultural heritage

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sun, October 1, 2023 | 16:54

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Nat'l Palace Museum exhibition highlights returned cultural heritage

Posted : 2022-07-06 16:48

Updated : 2022-07-06 16:49

A visitor takes a look at the Album of Paintings by Joseon-era painter Jeong Seon (1676-1759) at the National Palace Museum in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

About 40 cultural heritage items retrieved from overseas collectors on display

By Kwak Yeon-soo

A lidded bowl decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay, a golden royal seal and a suit of cotton armor worn by a Korean soldier of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), are among the many other returned cultural treasures that will be on display at the National Palace Museum of Korea, starting this Thursday.

Titled "Treasures of Ours Treasured by Others: Journey of Korean Cultural Heritage," the special exhibition features some 40 cultural artifacts that had been removed from the country and have been since reclaimed via auctions and other means by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, established in July 2012 under the Cultural Heritage Administration.

"We are happy to share our accomplishments over the course of 10 years. Since 2013, the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation has supported the repatriation of 784 cultural properties from six countries," Foundation Secretary General Kim Kae-sik said during a press conference for the exhibition at the museum, Wednesday.

According to the foundation, there are still around 214,208 relics scattered across 25 different countries, including Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and China.

Numerous items of Korean cultural heritage were taken out of the country under various circumstances. Every time the country underwent a national upheaval, cultural properties were taken out of the country illegally. However, large quantities of cultural heritage items were also brought back through legal purchases, donations, diplomatic gifts and exports.

The exhibition is comprised of three sections. The first section, titled, "Korean Cultural Heritage in Overseas Collections," explores the diverse routes through which Korean cultural heritage objects were sent abroad through examples of relics that have been retrieved.

They include the Odaesan Copy of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which was stolen during the Japanese colonial occupation (1910-45) and was repatriated in 2006 through the combined efforts of the government and the private sector. The White Porcelain Tube-Shaped Bottle with Design in Copper Underglaze was taken out of the country by an American collector and was purchased and returned to Korea in 2022.

A visitor looks at a box with mother-of-pearl inlay at the National Palace Museum in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

The second section, "For Their Return," presents the measures through which Korean cultural properties in overseas collections have been returned to Korea.

There are cases in which cultural properties have been returned after overseas museums acknowledged the illegal nature of their removal from Korea. They include Armor with Leather Lining, which was unconditionally returned by the St. Ottilien Archabbey in Germany, and the Original Edition of the Taehwangwon Banknote Issued by the Hojo (the ministry of taxation), which was retrieved from the U.S.

The final section, "Treasures of Ours, Treasured by Others," raises questions about how objects of Korean cultural heritage that remain in overseas collections but are not subject to repatriation, should be managed.

At the government level, the country is working to preserve and promote overseas properties on-site, providing support for preservation work and exhibitions.

"We selected 40 items that were recently returned to Korea, including the Album of Calligraphy by Successive Kings of the Joseon Dynasty (retrieved from the U.S. in 2022) and the box with mother-of-pearl inlay with plum, bird and bamboo in its design (brought back from Japan in 2021). The exhibition will hopefully give visitors a chance to rethink the value of our cultural property," said Kim Chung-bae, director of the exhibition division at the museum.

The exhibition runs at the National Palace Museum of Korea until Sept. 25. Admission is free.

yeons.kwak@koreatimes.co.kr