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 Saturday, 19 July 2008 |
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Seoul City's Finest Museums |
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Written by KNTO
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Saturday, 09 September 2006 |
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Spend a Day in Seoul City's Finest Museums & Art Galleries Australian visitors to Seoul with a penchant for Korean arts and
culture can spend a very rewarding day at some of Seoul's most renowned
museums and art galleries.
Aside from the National Museum of Korea, Seoul has many renowned and
interesting galleries, some with unique themes like the Beautiful Tea
Museum or the National Palace Museum of Korea that give visitors a
great insight into Korean traditions and culture.
The biggest attraction is the massive new National Museum of Korea,
which opened last October and is now regarded as one of the top six
museums of the world in scale.
Created by the world's leading IT country, the museum is a
state-of-the-art modern museum. As you enter the museum, you have
access to PDAs and MP3s as your detailed guide. With a collection of
11,000 works of art it is advisable for visitors to visit the official
website to plan their visit. Further information visit www.museum.go.kr
Besides exploring 5,000 years of Korean history at the National Museum
of Korea, visitors can take in special exhibitions. A special
Exhibition on the Louvre Museum in Paris will run from 24 October, 2006
to 18 March, 2007. The exhibition is the first of its kind by the
French government to mark the 120th anniversary of diplomatic ties
between South Korea and France. The exhibition will display various
genres of masterpieces including the paintings owned by French kings
and donated by aristocrats as well as great artists of the time. It
will feature paintings from the 16th to the 19th century including
works by Carracci, Tizianao, Poussin, Delacroix, Gericault, Corot and
Millet.
If you are interested in looking into former royal court life in Korea,
then the National Palace Museum of Korea is a great place to begin. The
museum houses 40,000 pieces of historic relics from the Korea's final
dynasty, the Joseon Dynasty and the royal court. The museum is located
next to the beautiful Gyeongbokgung Palace and holds several national
treasures among its collection. For more information visit
www.gogung.go.kr
For tea lovers, the Beautiful Tea Museum in Insa-dong offers
world-famous teas and snacks, which visitors can enjoy along with the
exhibition. As you enter the museum, the first thing you'll see is a
display of one hundred famous world teas. Traditional tea-making
instruments are on display and the museum offers a special ‘Tea Tasting
Program' which allows visitors to mix various teas to their tastes.
The area of Insa-dong is a very popular tourist area and has many free
art galleries where visitors can browse as well as traditional
restaurants and tea-houses. In the Ssamziegil Building there are
numerous galleries all located within the building.
The numerous galleries exhibit and sell traditional crafts by young
artists, pottery, sculptures, bags, shoes and more. Traditional Korean
chests made by traditional craftsmen, pottery and household goods are
popular buys with tourists.
For visitors looking for a fun day out with children, Funique House is
a museum offering exhibitions of educational toys that children can
touch and play with. All the items are so unique, they arouse the
curiosity of children and adults alike. Funique House is located at the
Korea War Memorial in Yongsan-gu.
Leeum, known as the Samsung Museum of Art is a treasure house of
Korea's traditional art and modern contemporary art. The three
buildings that comprise Leeum are a work of art themselves. Museum 1
devoted to Korean art, Museum 2 showcases modern and contemporary works
and the Samsung Child Education & Culture Centre contributes to the
education of future leaders. Designed by famous architects - Mario
Botta from Switzerland, Jean Nouvel from France and Dutch architect Rem
Koolhaas the complex is the optimal synthesis of nature and
architecture. More information can be found at www.leeum.org
The Seoul Museum of Art is home to Korea's modern works of art and
holds approximately sixty artworks by Korea's renowned artist Chon
Kyung-Ja. To reach the Seoul Museum of Art follow the street beside the
beautiful stone wall of Deoksugung Palace known as ‘Toldamgil' which
translates exactly to stone wall street. It is particularly beautiful
in Autumn with the falling golden gingko trees. More information on the
Seoul Museum of Art can be found at www.seoul.moa.org
Known as Korea's SOHO, Samcheongdong Gallery Street is lined either
side with small and large galleries. Each gallery offers different
works of art from hand-made artworks, fashion clothes by young
designers, antique artworks, modern artwork and much more. This area
behind the Gyeongbokgung Palace area has many nice cafes and
restaurants and places to relax.
If you like Korean cuisine you can visit the Kimchi Field Museum which
is a museum devoted entirely to the world famous kimchi, now recognized
as one of the world's five healthiest foods. Here you can learn
fascinating facts about the nutritional benefits of kimchi, the making
and preservation of kimchi and related displays of historic cooking
utensils, storage jars and more. More information at
www.kimchimuseum.co.kr
The Korean Kitchen Utensil Museum - Tteok is a great place to see a
traditional Korean kitchen and cooking tools. The Tteok Museum deals
with traditional Korean rice cakes and the tools used to make them.
Korean rice cakes are very popular at celebration times like Korean
thanksgiving - Chuseok. See www.tkmuseum.or.kr
The Museum of Korean Embroidery displays the painstaking, complex
embroideries created by Korean women over the years. There are over a
thousand works of traditional embroidered works and costumes as well as
embroidered folding screens, Buddhist paintings and decorative pieces.
Further information on all of Seoul's interesting museums and art
galleries can be found on the official travel website for Korea -
www.tour2korea.com and the websites included above. A free travel
guidebook to Korea can be obtained by contacting the Sydney office of
Korea Tourism Organization by email: visitkorea@knto.org.au or by phone
1800 211 717
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 September 2006 )
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