Government Plans Makeover for Cultural Gallery
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
The government is planning a makeover for the cultural gallery housed in its main administrative building. The change will include the addition of new displays of original paintings and artwork by leading Korean artists.
A spokesperson for the Government Management Service told The Korea Times Thursday that refurbishing the gallery was slated to start this weekend. One major component of the makeover plan is replacing reprints of foreign paintings currently on display at the Central Government Complex building. The displays have included reprints of ``Wheatfield with Cypresses'' by Vincent van Gogh, ``Water Lilies'' by Claude Monet and the ``Thousand and One'' by Henri Matisse, among others.
Critics have pointed out these duplicate reprints are perhaps not appropriate artworks for the nation's central government building. Visitors to the administrative complex include numerous senior officials and dignitaries from overseas governments, critics said, suggesting that the gallery should instead showcase local artists and their artwork.
Beginning this weekend, staff from the management office will start replacing reprints with original artwork and paintings by local artists, according to the spokesperson.
```We will be working with the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul. We are setting up an arrangement so that the museum can lend us local works on a long-term basis,'' he said. The office is expected to pay rental fees to the museum for these original paintings.
The government will also expand the gallery space, which had been limited to the public hallways in the government complex. Under the new plan, the gallery will expand to other areas of the building, including the main conference halls and upper-floor offices often visited by foreign dignitaries and government officials.