By Charles Audouin
Photo = Lee Jung-woo
Video = Park Daejin
An exhibition in downtown Seoul offers an escape from the hustle bustle of urban life and a moment of tranquility in nature.
"Mieumwanbo, Strolling Through Traditional Gardens," which was opened on Feb. 24, is being held at Sejong Museum of Art 1 of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in the capital's Jongno-gu District. Organized by the center and the Korea Heritage Service (KHS), the event focuses on the beauty of a traditional garden via media art.
The expression "Mieumwanbo" means to "softly chant while walking slowly."
In a news release, the KHS said, "The exhibition was designed to allow visitors to more easily understand the essence of traditional Korean landscaping and become one with nature."
A video using the chagyeong (borrowed scenery) technique, a concept in traditional Korean architecture of enjoying the outside view from a window like it was a painting in a frame, features traditional landscaping at the entrance of the exhibition "Mieumwanbo" at Sejong Museum of Art of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul's Jongno-gu District.
Visitors to the entrance of the exhibition can sit on the stair-like toetmaru (outdoor wooden patio) while watching a video of a traditional garden.
"A traditional Korean garden has a structure in which the pillars and numaru (patio-like structure in front of a traditional house) form a frame to allow people to enjoy the surrounding scenery," said Kim Dong Hyun, officer of the KHS' Scenic Sites and Traditional Landscaping Division.
"Traditional gardens in China and Japan make their landscapes enjoyable through objects placed inside a garden, but those in Korea are unique through how they display changes in the four seasons through scenery seen through an open view of outside."
"When visiting a traditional Korean garden, please don't gloss over the scenery; go up the pavilion or nugak (tower) to appreciate the picturesque view drawn by nature."
Visitors can experience a waterfall usually inaccessible even at a valley through an interactive video featuring Buril Waterfall at Ssanggyesa Temple in Hadong-gun County, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. When people stand next to the wall, water is shown pouring on their heads from a waterfall six m high.
Foreign journalists at the exhibition "Mieumwanbo" on March 25 look at a reinterpretation of bangjiwondo, a garden structure featuring a rectangular-shaped pond with a round-shaped small island inside based on the traditional East Asian view of the universe.
Changes in a day are shown in a video of the famous painting "Geumgang Jeondo" (Complete View of Geumgangsan Mountain) by leading Joseon Dynasty painter Jeong Seon (1676-1759), as well as a 3D model of a seokgasan, or a structure comprising piled-up stones to create a mountain-shaped object on the floor.
Another structure reinterprets a bangjiwondo, or a popular garden structure of a traditional garden featuring a rectangular-shaped pond with a round-shaped small island inside.
Both works pass on the Joseon method of using gardens in daily life to enjoy the beauty of nature and develop the body and mind.
Kim said, "As civilization developed and culture flourished led by Hanyang (Seoul) in the later Joseon era, a method of appreciating nature through miniatures or structures at gardens appeared."
Journalists at the exhibition "Mieumwanbo" on March 25 watch a media artwork featuring scenery from the four seasons at the secret garden of Changdeokgung Palace.
Visitors can also experience the four seasons at the secret garden of Changdeokgung Palace through a virtual walk through four byeolseojeongwon, or gardens in scenic areas within a traditional house to relax, rest or study. A 14-minute clip captures the real look of the gardens based on precise KHS measurements.
Kim said, "If you haven't yet visited Changdeokgung Palace, I hope you can indirectly experience the four seasons at the palace and its secret garden through this work."
To run through April 27 with free admission, "Mieumwanbo" will also be held at the Korean Cultural Centre in London from September to November.
caudouin@korea.kr
