Preface

The Changdeokgung Palace Special Exhibition celebrates the 10th anniversary of the K-Royal Culture Festival with “MEETS: A Timeless Harmony,” narrating six centuries of intertwined stories in space and time spanning from 1405 to 2024. What were the vicissitudes of 619 years in Seoul? The beauty of Korea has been recounted, rejected, and at times, forgotten. How can a single theme express the ebbs and flows of this abstruse yet familiar journey?

All temporal elements that make up Seoul are layered like a pastry – Layers of time overlapping with boundless spaces, sound of crashing branches layered with falling flower petals, and subtle shapes weaved between lives and deaths. As we traverse the fields of discourse enriched with historical narratives, the stories resonate differently in different times. Exploring each layer of this exhibition is akin to reflecting on the life of living in this storied city. New values are unearthed as we journey toward the height of our shared heritage. Presented by this exhibition, these values serve as historical markers and record that adorn the tapestry of the 21st century.

Part 1 – Orchestra of Light

Part 1 presents an amalgam of artistic interpretation and the pleasure offered by exhibition and technology. Injeongjeon Hall was where the king’s coronation, officials’ greetings, and reception of foreign envoys took place. The glistening floor installation at Injeongjeon Hall, which once resonated with the king’s authority and glory, reflects the grandeur of the past, solemnly revealing the everlasting glory of the Joseon Dynasty. Meanwhile, when the light emanating from jwadeung (Korean traditional lanterns) come to life in response to sound, the exhibition transforms into an intermediary that bridges the present and the space of the deceased. The illuminations represent many impressions and instances, such as the moment life is breathed into the still lanterns to create a form of collage, the delightful confusion or even a rare sense of oneness generated by what is moving and what is visible, and finally, the joyful confirmation we receive from having our lives returned to the individual rather than a part of the collective whole. Each visitor will reach out to grasp that light in their misty states of mind. They engage in the visual experience or methodology of reconstructing the unfolding scenery from their individual and unique perspectives; such vibrant entropy in the artistic moment is unprecedented. 

Part 2 – Colors and Harmony

Part 2 is presented at Seonjeongjeon Hall, where the king and officials carried out their daily tasks and held court meetings. Works of byeongpung (Korean folding screen) that elegantly blend languages of the past and present are harmoniously placed on Seonjeongjeon Hall’s stature. The lines created by the folding screens, curved or straight, harmonize with the hanok eaves praised as the absolute aesthetic essence, ultimately serving as metaphors for the essence of painting and Korean landscapes of mountains and waters. The soft chimes of punggyeong (Korean wind bells) dance to the rhythm of dancheong paint work, and the six colors of dancheong create vivid squares and rectangles, deserving of the description that they are 21^st century Mondrians commissioned by the Changdeokgung Palace. This part especially uses objects to offer a form of memory through which we can construct new relationships with the past. It demonstrates a way of accessing the past through reorganization and reenactment or connecting the past and present to reveal each of their truths. Then how might delving into a scene and gaining a better understanding of it influence that scene? What kind of time could it be? Here, visitors reassemble the glory and brilliance of the past within the realm of image—they reach beyond the fabricated and immerse themselves in historical scenes created by the king and his officials.    

Part 3 – Spirit in Movement

Following the stops at Injeongjeon Hall and Seonjeongjeon Hall, Part 3 takes us to Seongjeonggak Hall. Geometric modernism reflected in the shape of Seongjeonggak Hall tells the stories of scenery and perspective as well as nature and place mediated by sensibility that transcends times. The thickness and subtle scent of black ink stand in for our history, representing time that has accumulated over centuries. Where do the undulating dance of buchae (Korean traditional fan) and blowing wind of an unknown origin belong? In which time are they rooted? As we raise these questions, we begin to observe and ponder the objects in the hall. There is a fan suspended in midair amidst the season’s light and colors, and there is also one dyed in soft colors. The fans that ripple with the wind create another music of their own. It follows the rich notes of movement in its empty state, devoid of all feelings. At the same time, it tunes into Kandinsky’s belief in music, drawing the movement of Calder’s mobiles. In a sense, it is a witty reinterpretation that challenges our familiar stereotypes of painting. It digs into the narrative of time, rearranging not only themes but also each individual element in an entirely new way. Where else, other than Changdeokgung Palace, would we witness a formless entity creating such an overwhelming and captivating scene?

Conclusion

Changdeokgung Palace is a space that offers us an opportunity to reflect on the present, past, and future with pride. it is the only place that unequivocally shows the layers and relationships between the past and present, rationality and reality, justice and truth. The format, style, and expression culminate in an exhibition that allows for the contemplation of brilliant observations of the past. It becomes a mixture of a new strategy toward how we treat the past. Perhaps the works made their way into a language we now understand. This activity instills the ability for active viewers to tastefully observe the faces and lives of the past. The language of the audience now comprises a combination of meanings and experiences. Therefore, this exhibition etches a record with keen accuracy onto this palace and delivers what belongs to the past to the present in a timeless harmony.