 Diverse Buddhist artworks, worked by the artist of Dongguk University were displayed during the exhibition, “Draw One Hundered Years.” /Photography by Lee Jae-eun |
Buddhist artists of Dongguk University held a special exhibition “Draw One Hundred Years” both online and offline to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Buddhist art major. Buddhist art major was first opened in the College of Buddhist Studies in 1971 and it is currently a specific major of the College of Arts. Specialists are being trained to preserve traditional arts and Buddhist cultural assets.
The offline exhibition was held at the Ara Art Center in Insa-dong, Seoul, from May 5th to 11th and the online exhibition can still be seen at the Dongguk University’s YouTube channel and Social Network Service (SNS) of the Department of Fine Arts. At the exhibition, more than 60 Buddhist artists, who are actively working in the field after graduating the school, have participated in the artworks including paintings, sculptures and crafts. In addition to the modernization of Buddhist art by the artists, Buddhist cultural assets that artists have participated in the process of restoration to preserve the traditional culture have been unveiled for the first time. A replica of Daeheungsa Temple’s Youngsanhoe Hanging Painting (Treasure No.1552), which is 10 meters high, has displayed for the first time through the exhibition. It showed the ability of cultural preservation of the artists who majored in Buddhist art through the outstanding restoration. Also, the restoration drawing of Three Bodhisattva (Treasure No. 1888) of Gurye Cheoneunsa Temple, a Buddhist work that promotes the lessons of Buddha, has been opened to the public.
Lee Su-yea, Professor of Buddhist art major of the College of Arts, said that artists who have inherited the tradition of Buddhist art and have done modern creation about the Buddhism prepared the exhibition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Buddhist art major of Dongguk University as if they are preparing for their own one hundred years in the future. She also added that she will make efforts to cultivate experts with the right knowledge which matches the founding ideology of the school, not just nurturing skilled people. Although the offline exhibition was held for a short period of time, the artists’ work can still be seen at the websites.