1. Visitors to the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, central Seoul, don't be surprised that museum officials look particularly tense this week and the next as the venue will be used to hold the welcome reception for the G20 participants next Thursday. I managed to squeeze a brief half hour to visit this place in my last tour of Korea and realised my folly. To do justice to the place you need at least one full day ( or two).
The impressive frontage of the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan
The JoongAng Daily reports: "According to the committee, the museum was chosen as the venue for the welcome reception and dinner to allow the leaders to enjoy Korea’s history and cultural assets during their tightly scheduled two-day trip. The committee said 11 cultural relics will be selected and showcased, and information about each will be provided in eight different languages....The welcome reception will start at 6 p.m. and last an hour, with the event being broadcast live by major media outlets...The leaders will join a working dinner at a special hall inside the museum to begin their discussion."
If you have time to spare, you can revisit the museum grounds in the evenings
for some promising night photography practice
Alas - didn't have time to check what lay beyond those steps
which straddled the two wings of the museum
2. A special dinner for the spouses of the visiting leaders will be hosted by the First Lady, Kim Yoon-ok on Thursday evening at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art. ( The museum will be closed to the public on the 10th and 11th of November.)
G20 visitors may be greeted by these whimsical creatures
outside the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art
Here's a snippet from its website:
"Since its establishment in 1965, the Samsung Foundation of Culture has committed itself to the preservation and exhibition of Korean cultural heritage. Beginning with Korean artifacts collected by the late Samsung Chairman, Byung-Chull Lee (pen-name Ho-Am), the Samsung Foundation of Culture has been operating the Ho-Am Art Museum , the Ho-Am Art Gallery, and the Rodin Gallery. Following the example set by Ho-Am, Samsung Museum of Art, has dedicated himself to both the preservation of Korean art history and the exhibition of modern and contemporary works by Korean and foreign artists. ....The name for Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, is the combination of the family name of its founder, 'Lee,' and the abbreviated word for museum, ‘um.’
3. The following day, they will tour the palace grounds and gardens of Changdeokgung and visit the Korea Furniture Museum. "This museum completed an ambitious twelve-year building project to become the most comprehensive private museum of its kind. Ten traditional homes were rebuilt from earlier dynasties to display the proper usage of furniture and interior decoration in order for the viewer to fully appreciate life in traditional Korean homes. The museum specializes in collecting, preserving and exhibiting traditional Korean wooden furniture with more than 1,500 traditional pieces." Click here for a snapshot review of the place.
The Korea Furniture Museum offers more than glimpses of traditional chairs and tables.
Handsome hanok examples can also be admired here.
sources:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2927988
http://leeum.samsungfoundation.org/eng/main.asp
http://www.designboom.com/snapshot/cat/25/korean_furniture_museum.html
http://www.korea.net/detail.do?guid=28601
http://english.seoul.go.kr/cav/ena/mng_view2.php?idx=10465&cPage=&pidx=6
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=268217
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=268137
