▲ This photo, shows"Inwangjesaekdo" at the National Museum of Korea from July of last year. (Yonhap)

 

▲ This photo, shows Kim Whanki's art at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art from July last year. (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Apr. 4 (Yonhap) -- A "ticketing war" is taking place ahead of the special exhibition opening at the National Museum of Korea on the 28th to commemorate the first anniversary of the donation of cultural assets and artworks by the bereaved family of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

According to the reservation status of the Interpark Ticket, as of 9.am on the 3rd, all except four tickets were sold out till the 8th of next month for "A collector's Invitation", an exhibition for the 1st anniversary of Chairman Lee Kun-hee's donations.

Tickets for the weekend of next month are sold out as well, with only a few tickets for Fridays left. After the 9th of next month, tickets for Monday till Thursday are comparatively more flexible.

According to the statistics released by Interpark Ticket, 81.8% of the purchasers were female, which was higher than that of males (18.2%). For the age, 41% of them were in their 30s, while 28.4% were in their 20s and 19.5% were in their 40s.

Ticket sales for the exhibition began at 10 A.M on the 28th of last month, and now only tickets for the opening day till next month can be purchased. Although the National Museum of Korea has announced the opening of the exhibition, it was not widely announced in other platforms. Yet, the exhibition is still receiving many attention.

The "Lee Kun-hee Collection" held simultaneously by the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in July last year had a fierce competition for the tickets even before the opening, which is unusual for cultural and art exhibitions. Although the tickets were free, these tickets were later sold for money which eventually became a problem.

During that time, museums and art galleries limited the number of visitors from 240 and 420 per day respectively due to the COVID 19 quarantine policy. However, this time, the exhibition will have a much larger number of people with 1,500 to 2,100 per day.

The viewing cycle of the exhibition is set every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8 p.m is the last session, while 5 p.m will be the last session for the rest of the week.

Each session is limited to 100 people. 70 tickets are sold online, and 30 tickets is available to be purchased on the day of the event.

This time, the exhibition tickets have to be bought. The ticket price is 5,000 won for 25 to 64 years old and 3,000 won for 7 to 24 years old. For those under the age of 6, over the age of 65 and for those of merit, the tickets will be free.

An official from the National Museum of Korea said, "We have decided the number of visitors per each session in consideration of the congestion level of the exhibition hall and the convenience of the visitors."

This exhibition, hosted by the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea is operated until the 28th of August.

Gwangju Museum of Art, Daegu Art Museum, Park Soo Keun Museum, Lee Jung-seob Art Museum and Jeonnam Museum of Art will present more than 290 pieces from the Lee Kun-hee collection.

Representative works include "Inwangjesaekdo" by Gyeomjae Jeong Seon, "Chuseongbudo" by Danwon Kim Hong-do, "Sanullim" by Kim Whanki, "Water Lilies" by Claude Monet, and "Bull" by Lee Jungseop.

However, "Inwangjesaekdo" will be released only until the 31st of next month. Artworks including "Chuseongbudo," "Suwol Gwaneumdo," "Cheonsu Gwaneum Bosal-do," "Sipjangsaeng (Ten Symbols of longevity) Folding Screen," will also only be on display for about 1-2 months.

Tickets for June can be purchased online from the 2nd of next month, and the tickets for July 1st till the 28th will be sold from the 30th of next month.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Haemin Kim.)

 

 

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[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]