Exhibition: "Seokguram Grotto: The Millennial Secret of Buddhist Art"

Located in the southeast of the Korean peninsula, Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 BC – 935 AD) for nearly a thousand years. It houses numerous archaeological sites and remains that testify to the cultural richness and traditions of this period.

Seokguram, located on Mount Toham in Gyeongju, is an artificial grotto built from granite blocks finely cut and assembled with remarkable precision. A true masterpiece of Buddhist art from the Unified Silla Kingdom (668-935), it reflects the artistic refinement, architectural mastery, and openness to the world that characterized this era. In 1995, Seokguram was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, in recognition of its exceptional heritage value.

This exhibition was designed to offer visitors a more immersive discovery of Seokguram, a true jewel of Silla culture and a reflection of the Buddhist universe. It presents the original architecture and the remarkable construction techniques of the monument. Thanks to photographs taken by Han Seokhong, who dedicated his life to immortalizing Korean cultural heritage, visitors will also be able to appreciate the beauty of the sculptures that make up the grotto. Among them, the statues of monks, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas testify to the sacred dimension of religious art.

The exhibition also offers an immersive and sensory experience through various digital and educational devices. An LED screen allows for the discovery of the main historical sites of Gyeongju, including the Bulguksa temple and the Seokguram grotto, while braille supports and tactile devices invite visitors to grasp the works through touch. These different approaches thus offer a discovery that is both concrete and accessible to Korean cultural heritage.

The exhibition also highlights the Buddhist culture of the Silla Kingdom through the presentation of iconic sites and objects. Seokguram embodies the ideal vision of the Buddhist world to which the Unified Silla Kingdom aspired; glazed wall bricks decorated with guardian motifs from the Sacheonwangsa site evoke the protection of the Buddhist Law; the pond and lotus flowers, which connect the world of the Buddha to the earthly world; as well as the Great Dharani Sutra of the Pure and Immaculate Light, which represents the realization of the Buddha's world through sacred writings.

Finally, the exhibition proposes to connect past and present through installations and works by contemporary artists who reinterpret the Buddhist culture and aesthetics of Silla. With Yeonji, Kim Eun-ha breathes new life into pottery, tile fragments discovered in temples, and recycled fibers, brought together in a poetic creation. Lee Seung-chul revisits traditional Buddhist sculpture through reproductions in hanji paper, while Sohn Dae Hyun highlights the richness of Korean craftsmanship with Buddha sculptures created using various techniques, including lacquer, ivory, mother-of-pearl, and gilding. Finally, Studio Shinyoo offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the Buddhist pagoda, a symbol of the Buddha's relics, the practice of Dharma, and the vows formulated by the faithful. Associated with objects dating from the Silla period, this installation invites visitors to linger around the works, make their own wishes, and reflect.

From November 23, a new immersive exhibition will complete the discovery of Seokguram. Thanks to a hyper-realistic reconstruction and projection mapping on four screens, the public will be able to virtually explore the grotto and discover this iconic site from a new perspective.

Information on coree-culture.org