Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Colombia's gold
By Choe Chong-dae
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By Do Je-hae
Colombia is a land of geographical and cultural diversity. Though it lies in South America, far from Korea, it has now become a bit closer to the Korean consciousness through a special exhibition titled "El Dorado: the Spirits, Gold and the Shaman."
Thanks to the visionary efforts of the National Museum of Korea's Director-General Bae Ki-dong from Aug. 4 to Oct. 28 people in Korea can learn about the great myth and mystery of pre-Colombian civilization at the museum. Numerous visitors, including foreigners, have shown great interest in the 322 ancient golden jewelry ornaments and other artifacts such as funerary urns that are on loan from the Museo del Oro or Gold Museum in Bogota.
The artifacts on display shed light on the cultural context of pre-Colombian civilization and are grouped into four major themes: "Revival of El Dorado," "Assimilation of Nature," "Transformation to Shaman" and "Encounter with God".
A media podcast, "Revival of El Dorado," introduces visitors to the famed land the Spanish conquistadors called El Dorado. There are stories of those who wished to lay hands on the gold, those who wanted to safeguard it and those who made sacrifices to the gods by throwing gold into Lake Guatavita.
"Assimilation of Nature" shows the life of native Colombians who regarded themselves as part of nature. Their bodies and household goods had animal decorations such as jaguars, frogs, lizards and birds.
Finally, "Transformation to Shaman" and "Encounter with God" reveals a variety of golden ornaments and tattoo tools connected to religious ceremonies performed by shamans, who were known as the mediators between humans and the gods.
Contrary to European understanding, the native pre-Colombians saw the golden objects not as symbols of material wealth but as a prestigious bridge to their gods. Gold was a sacred metal used in religious offerings and a recipient of the Sun's life-giving energy, which is also a source of fertility.
An ancient legend tells of a Muisca king who enveloped himself in gold dust during religious festivals then jumped from a raft into Lake Guatavita with offerings of gold and emeralds to the gods. Eventually the mysterious legend of El Dorado was proven true when a small golden object known as the "Muisca raft" was discovered in a cave near Pasca in 1969. The raft portrayed a standing chief, priests and flag bearer in a shamanistic ritual. El Dorado, which means the Golden One in Spanish, was actually a person, not a place as the Spanish conquistadors had thought.
Gold was used by indigenous societies to express complex, social and religious hierarchies between 500 B.C. and 1500 A.D. The pre-Hispanic goldsmiths of Colombia crafted some of the most elaborate objects in ancient South America. What they left behind include decorations such as masks, pectorals, nose rings, pendants and pear-shaped poporos depicting humans and animals. While the goldsmith was popular, metal instruments was not developed for daily necessities during this ancient pre-Colombian period.
Through this exhibition, I became an explorer of unique artwork that demonstrated our timeless connection to nature, and appreciated the spirit of native Colombians, “the unity of human and nature,” as well as the significance of gold. The displays led me on an appreciation journey of the pre-Colombians and how they related to nature via goldsmiths.
Furthermore, the exhibition helped me imagine a path of discovery through the Amazon rainforest and up the slopes of the Andes to discover a forgotten golden civilization.
Choe Chong-dae (
choecd@naver.com
) is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International Co., and director of the Korean-Swedish Association.