Exhibitions

Notes, reviews and itineraries from museum exhibitions, with a focus on Buddhist art, Asia and art history.

조선의 승려 장인

Monk Artisans of the Chosŏn Dynasty

National Museum of Korea · Seoul · 7 December 2021 — 6 March 2022

A major exhibition on monk sculptors and painters, their workshops, networks and the processes through which Buddhist images were made.

The Beauty of Prayer — Buddhist Art of the Koryŏ and Chosŏn Periods

Kyushu National Museum · Dazaifu · 5 September — 15 October 2023

Paintings, sculpture, scriptures and ritual objects reveal the continuity of Buddhist prayer from Koryŏ into Chosŏn.

The Joy of Dreaming of Paradise — Amitābha’s Pure Land

Central Buddhist Museum · Seoul · 19 October — 18 December 2016

A major exhibition on Amitābha, the nine grades of rebirth, yŏmbul practice and the visual construction of Sukhāvatī in Korean Buddhist art.

Ingaksa and the Samguk yusa — Following the Fragrance of History

Central Buddhist Museum · Seoul · 13 November 2013 — 12 January 2014

An exhibition connecting Ingaksa’s archaeology, Iryŏn’s life, ritual objects and the material transmission of the Samguk yusa.