A newly opened exhibition is offering a look at Western-style buildings and objects at Deoksugung, one of the five Joseon-era (1392-1910) palaces in Seoul.
The exhibition “Western Architecture in the Korean Empire’s Palace” explores over 110 treasured items, including royal seals, documents and beds in several halls of the palace compound.
The four-part show starts with Dondeokjeon, a hall most likely built in 1902 as a venue for Joseon’s diplomatic engagements with the outside world. “The two-story house was the king’s reception hall on the first floor and his bedroom on the second,” said Hong Hyeon-do, the exhibition’s chief curator at the Korea Heritage Service, the agency that manages national heritage.
The second part looks at another hall, Jeonggwanheon, the palace’s oldest Western-style building built in 1900. The hall served as a royal study, records show.
The hall in particular was built of fire-resistant materials so it could house royal treasures, Hong added.
The third part zooms in on the changing usage of space as the royal family adapted to Western buildings. A royal bed on display is the most pronounced of such changes, Hong said, referring to a royal bedroom where the occupant slept on a raised bed, in the Western style, rather than on the floor. At the same time, the room is equipped with “ondol,” the traditional Korean underfloor heating system.
The final part examines how Western-style buildings at Deoksugung have changed since Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. One example is how Dondeokjeon was rebuilt in 2023 after an eight-year repair effort. The restoration was largely prompted by damage during the colonial period.
Seokjojeon, a two-story hall built in 1910 as Korea’s first Western-style building made of stone, is another must-see. The hall’s intricate concrete floors show how Joseon tried to adopt fundamentally Western architectural methods, according to Hong, the chief curator.
The exhibition has a separate space for interactive programs. Across the palace grounds, visitors can take photos digitally depicting them as Joseon kings and queens.
“One reason we opened this exhibition is to correct misunderstandings about the palace,” Hong said, referring to a common misconception that Jeonggwanheon was where King Gojong drank coffee and held parties.
“Gojong did neither,” Hong said, citing a lack of historical records indicating otherwise.
The exhibition runs through July 13.
siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com
