Exhibition features museum conservation lab
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Portrait of Jeong Gon-su and X-ray image of the portrait / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea
57 cultural properties
treated with cutting
edge technologies
By Kwon Mee-yoo
When people go to a museum, they see cultural properties that have been cleaned, restored and neatly displayed in showcases. However, when such cultural assets are first found, many of them have been soiled, damaged or even broken. There are scientists behind these relics on display, who put forth their best efforts to conserve and restore the artifacts to their original state.
Titled "Conservation Science, Saving the Cultural Properties," a new exhibition of the National Museum of Korea (NMK) sheds light on efforts to conserve and restore precious cultural properties. It features some 57 cultural properties from those treated in the very early stages of conservation science to those handled with state-of-the-art technologies.
"2016 marks the 40th anniversary of conservation science at the NMK,” said NMK Director General Kim Young-na. “This exhibition looks back upon the history and introduces what the conservation scientists do."
The discipline of conservation science is about investigating when, where, what and how various cultural properties were created and exploring ways to conserve and restore them.
White porcelain pitcher with dragon and cloud pattern from the Song Dynasty before restoration, above, and after 3D scanning restoration / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea
The Division of Conservation Science at the NMK began four decades ago with only two scientists and has now expanded to up to 30 members, but still has a long way to go. There are over 380,000 artifacts waiting for preservation treatment in the museum's storage, but current staffers can only handle about 1,600 a year.
The first part "Looking Inside Cultural Properties" elaborates on diverse types of materials in cultural properties such as metal, earth, stone, wood, paper and textile, which is the first step of understanding the artifacts and conservation research. The process of analysis uses a range of scientific equipment including the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.
"Portrait of Jeong Gon-su," a vassal from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), was originally estimated to be painted around 1590 when Jeong was sent to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as an envoy. However, an X-ray image of the portrait revealed that Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) costume was painted under the finished portrait, pushing the estimated time of the painting to after the establishment of Qing.
The "Healing Damaged Cultural Properties" section gives insight into various methods used to repair and restore cultural assets. Conservation scientists stabilize damaged artifacts to capture their historic value.
The latest technologies such as 3D scanning and modeling are used to speculate on the original state of the cultural properties and restore them.
"Extending the Life of Cultural Properties" sheds light on the scientific methods of minimizing harm to the cultural assets caused by natural factors such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pollutants and fungus.
The highlight of the exhibit is a section that gives a glimpse into what conservation scientists really do. A replica of the conservation laboratory is installed in the exhibition hall and the museum's scientists conduct their research there.
The exhibit is on view until May 8. For more information, visit www.museum.go.kr or call 02-2077-9000.