Seokguram exhibition opens in Paris to mark 140 years of Korea-France ties
A promotional poster for "The Millennium Mystery of Buddhist Art: Seokguram" exhibition / Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
An exhibition on Seokguram Grotto, an eighth-century Buddhist cave temple among Korea's first UNESCO World Heritage sites, opened in Paris on Thursday (local time), alongside a weeklong Korean heritage festival, the Korea Heritage Service (KHS) said Friday.
The exhibition, "The Millennium Mystery of Buddhist Art: Seokguram," runs through March 13, 2027, at the Korean Cultural Center in France. The KHS organized it with the center and the Gyeongju city government to mark the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France.
Seokguram is an artificial granite grotto on Mount Toham in Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935). It was added to the UNESCO list in 1995.
The show features a 3D immersive video recreating the grotto's interior and a reconstruction of green-glazed tiles depicting Buddhist guardian deities that once decorated a wooden pagoda base at the Sacheonwang Temple Site in Gyeongju.
Korean Ambassador to France Kwon Hyuk-woon gave opening remarks, followed by congratulatory speeches from Rep. Kim Seok-ki, Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young and a KHS official. Guests then sampled temple food — the plant-based cuisine of Korean Buddhist monasteries — prepared by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism.
Earlier Thursday, the Korea Heritage Agency's performing arts troupe staged a 30-minute show at Trocadero Square to open "Korea on Stage in Paris," which runs through Wednesday. The program included "gilnori," a street procession, along with a lion dance and drum dances.
Events will continue at the cultural center, local schools and Gilsangsa, a Korean Buddhist temple in France, including craft workshops, Seon (Zen) meditation and templestay, a program offering a taste of monastic life. Students will also make rubbings of the Hunminjeongeum Haerye, the 15th-century text explaining the Korean alphabet.
Researchers from the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage will lecture on Seokguram and Silla excavations on Monday and Tuesday.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.