By Xu Aiying
Photos = Xu Aiying

A museum in Seoul is hosting an exhibition of Japanese art to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of Korea's diplomatic relations with Japan.

From June 17 to Aug. 10, "Japanese Art from Four Perspectives," a joint event of the National Museum of Korea (NMK) and the Tokyo National Museum, runs at Gallery #306 of the NMK's Permanent Exhibition Gallery in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

The characteristics of Japanese art at the display are explained through four keywords: splendid ornamentation (kazari); the contrasting aesthetics of restraint (hankazari); emotions related to the ephemeral transformations of nature (aware); and a light-hearted spirit of humor and leisure (asobi).

Sixty-two works from both museums are displayed to allow visitors to appreciate the outer beauty and inner emotions of Japanese art. For this exhibition, the Tokyo museum submitted 40 items including seven key pieces of cultural heritage, with 38 of the 40 on display for the first time in Korea.

A media event for the opening of the exhibition "Japanese Art from Four Perspectives" on June 16 shows the kimono Kosode with Autumn Grass Design, one of seven key pieces of cultural heritage from the Tokyo National Museum, at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

Upon entering the exhibition hall, eye-catching works appear like paintings, lacquerware and works of cloth dyeing.

Among them is Kosode with Autumn Grass Design, an important piece of Japan's cultural heritage and main exhibit of the Tokyo museum. The short-sleeved kimono is decorated with patterns of autumn flowers and leaves drawn by Korin Ogata (1658-1716), a painter from the Edo Period known as a master of Japanese decorative art.

Another can't-miss highlight is a folding screen showing a phoenix and a peacock. Other items showing aspects of Japanese culture range from an inkstone box used to write the traditional Japanese poetry waka and shakumi, or masks used in the traditional theatrical genre noh.

Visitors on June 16 look at a folding screen decorated with a phoenix and a peacock at a media event marking the opening of the exhibition "Japanese Art from Four Perspectives" at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

Makoto Fujiwara, director of the Tokyo museum, told a media event on June 16 in Seoul, "This exhibition offers a rare opportunity for the Korean public to directly see major collections from the Tokyo National Museum."

"I'm very happy to organize such a precious event in this meaningful year reflecting the significance of friendly relations between Korea and Japan."

"Culture is the deepest medium that forms the basis for exchange and understanding between countries," NMK Director General Kim Jae-Hong said, urging people to visit the event. "I hope that this exhibition lets visitors feel not only the visual beauty of Japanese art but also the depth of thought and texture of emotions embedded in it."

After this exhibition ends with exchanges to mark the 60th anniversary of normalized ties, another exhibition in February next year will be held at the Tokyo museum featuring works from the NMK.

xuaiy@korea.kr