Kansong Art Museum 'Bohwagak' to reopen... Exhibition begins from 16th of next month

▲ This photo, shows a scene from the exhibition 'Chusa Kim Jeong-hui' which was held in the October of 2014. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, provided by the Cultural Heritage Administration shows 'Bohwagak' in Kansong Art Museum. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- The door to 'Bohwagak', the Kansong Art Museum located in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, is reopening after it was closed for interior construction.

The Kansong Art Museum announced on the 31st, "We will be holding a spring exhibition from the 16th of next month." It also said, "After 7 years, 44 pieces from the Kansong collection will be showcased at Seongbuk-gu, the original place of 'Bohwagak'."

An official from the museum explained in a phone call with Yonhap News Angency, "The theme and the method of how the visitors will view the pieces are still hard to disclose."

The official said that the National Treasure, "Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad", which is said to have been recently purchased by "Heritage DAO", a joint investment association based on blockchain before giving 51% of the share back to the Kansong Art Museum, will not be on display.

Kansong Art Museum has held various exhibitions at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) for five years from 2014. Although on January of 2019, it announced that it was going to be their last exhibition ahead of the museum reopening the following year, it did not go accordingly.

Bohwagak, a private art museum established in 1938 by Jeon Hyung-pil (1906-1962) for the preservation and use of art, was later registered as an example of state-designated heritage in December 2019. Along with that, temporary exhibitions were held from 1971 to the exhibitions held in the DDP.

On the 25th, near Bohwagak, a storage room with two basement floor and two floors above the ground level was completed to store the relics of the Kansong Art Museum, including Hunminjeongeum Haerye. This storage facility was built with the aid of the central government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government's funding.

The construction of the Kansong Art Museum is also in progress in Daegu. It is expected to open in the second half of 2023 with an investment of 40 billion won from the central government and the local government. 

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

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