Historic Kansong Art Museum welcomes public again after 7 years

"Bohwasubo: The Restoration and Conservation of the Kansong Collection" is a new exhibition that kicked off Saturday at the Kansong Art Museum's historic "Bohwagak" venue in Seongbuk District, northeastern Seoul, after a seven-year hiatus. Yonhap

By Park Han-sol

The Kansong Art Museum, known as the oldest private institution in Korea that boasts a historic collection of over 16,000 cultural artifacts, finally reopened its "Bohwagak" venue in Seongbuk District, northeastern Seoul, on Saturday after a seven-year hiatus.

Founded in 1938 by Chun Hyung-pil (1906-62), an affluent philanthropist who went by the penname Kansong and dedicated his fortune to collecting and preserving the country's rare treasures during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial era, the museum has held biannual exhibitions since 1971, free of charge. It was 2014 when its aging venue became dormant, with all of the subsequent shows for the next five years being held temporarily at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul instead.

The latest exhibition, titled "Bohwasubo: The Restoration and Conservation of the Kansong Collection," marks the beginning of the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation's efforts to increase transparency and start its operation anew, according to Chun In-keon, museum director and grandson of Chun Hyung-pil.

This pledge came after the institution was embroiled in a recent series of controversies involving some rare relics in its collection. Notably, the foundation made headlines in 2020 and again earlier this year after putting a total of four state-designated Buddhist treasures and national treasures up for auction ― for the first time in the nation's history.

The foundation cited its chronic financial woes that have been worsened by the payment of inheritance taxes for thousands of non-state-designated artifacts as well as the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for its decision to bring the priceless Buddhist sculptures under the hammer.

Chun In-keon, director of the Kansong Art Museum and grandson of its founder Chun Hyung-pil / Yonhap

"It was truly a heart-wrenching decision to make ― like cutting off my own arm," Chun said, with his voice quivering momentarily, during Friday's press conference.

He added that unlike other established private art museums, Kansong Art Museum is not backed financially by a parent company and does not have a fixed income source.

Following a string of unprecedented efforts made to manage its escalating debt ― turning the Hangeul handbook of "Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon" into limited-edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as well as selling off two Buddhist treasures in 2020 to the National Museum of Korea and one national treasure last month to a cryptocurrency-based entity named The Heritage DAO ― the museum is ready to start a new chapter with more stabilized, sustainable operations in place.

"The museum can say for certain that it will never put any of the items in its collection, whether they be state-designated treasures or not, up for auction in the future," Chun stated firmly.

The only surviving first edition of "Maeheonjip" (1452), a collection of prose and poems composed by early Joseon-era scholar Kwon Wu / Courtesy of Kansong Art Museum

Meanwhile, the "Bohwasubo" exhibition has been organized not to call attention to a particular artist or genre, but to turn the spotlight on the artifacts that have undergone a careful restoration process over the last two years after being subject to damage due to Kansong's outdated resources and facilities, according to research director Baek In-san.

Thirty-two works on view, chosen carefully from some 150 items that have been restored since 2020 with funding from the Cultural Heritage Administration, along with the museum's newly built storage space and conservation laboratory, reflect the foundation's shifting focus to the artifact preservation process.

Unveiled to the public for the first time will be the only surviving first edition of "Maeheonjip," a collection of prose and poems composed by early Joseon-era scholar Kwon Wu (1363-1419), who was also the teacher of King Sejong when he was a young prince.

Shin Saimdang's "Grapes," one of 30 paintings included in "Haedong Myeonghwajip" compiled by Kim Kwang-guk during the late Joseon Kingdom / Courtesy of Kansong Art Museum

"Haedong Myeonghwajip" consists of iconic paintings by the likes of Shin Saimdang (1504-51), Jeong Seon (1676-1759) and Sim Sa-jeong (1707-69), which had been compiled by collector Kim Kwang-guk (1727-97) during the late Joseon Kingdom.

"Although they are not national treasures, they still make up a group of invaluable artifacts that have unfortunately remained in a blind spot for long in terms of conservation," Baek said.

"Bohwasubo" runs through June 5 at the Kansong Art Museum. The exhibition will then be followed by an extensive renovation of the aged Bohwagak building, which was listed as the country's Registered Cultural Heritage in 2019. As the revamp is scheduled to take up to two years, the ongoing show marks the last chance to view the venue in its original shape and form.

Sim Sa-jeong's "Seashore of Samilpo," one of 30 paintings included in "Haedong Myeonghwajip" compiled by Kim Kwang-guk / Courtesy of Kansong Art Museum