[ MAUKA MAKAI ]

This military uniform dates to the 19th-century's
Choson Dynasty. It comes from the Ewha Womans
University Collection.

Art of Korea

Exquisite Koryo celadon ceramics
headline the exhibit of art,
jewelry and furniture

GALLERY

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Suzanne Tswei
stswei@starbulletin.com

The new gallery for Korean Art at the Honolulu Academy of Arts is only about 930 square feet -- roughly the size of a roomy two-bedroom apartment -- but size isn't everything. The 100 or so pieces of paintings, ceramics, jewelry and other art objects can stand up to those in the collection of much larger and better known museums anywhere in the world.

The academy is an acknowledged leader among American museums when it comes to Asian art. And its Korean art collection is held especially esteemed, primarily because of the quality of its Koryo celadon ceramic collection, which began with 100 pieces from the academy's founder, Mrs. Charles Montague Cooke.

KOREAN ART GALLERY Opening and Korean cultural festival: Place: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 900 S. Beretania St. Time: 1 to 5 p.m. today; regular academy hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday Admission: Free today, otherwise admission is $7; $4 for seniors, students and military; free for children 12 and under Call: 532-8700

Several Koryo pieces have been deemed by a Harvard University expert to be of such exceptional quality that they may be considered "national treasures." And the same expert, Robert Mowry, also considers the academy's collection to be one of the top five collections of Korean ceramics in the United States.

What makes the exhibit at the new gallery even more special is that only THE best pieces from the academy's celadon collection have been selected for display for today's gallery grand opening.

"The academy is really known for its celadon ware, and because they have been locked away in the basement for two years (while the gallery is being constructed) that I wanted to highlight the most stellar pieces in our collection," said Asian Art Curator Julia White.

White, who oversaw the renovation of the gallery, said, "We really have the creme-de-la-creme from our collection." White also selected the best Korean furniture, paintings, jewelry and other objects from the academy's 800 pieces of Korean art for the show.

Although the new gallery only has enough space to show about one-eighth of the academy's Korean art collection, the space is double the size of the previous gallery, White said. And the new gallery is designed to be more user friendly, allowing visitors a closer view and staff better access to changing the display.

This celadon cup and stand is from the
Koryo Dynasty, early 12th century.

The gallery renovation includes new flooring, casework, lighting and state-of-the art security and conservation methods.

The new gallery is part of the academy's master plan to upgrade the museum to world-class standards by its 75th anniversary in 2002.

As part of the upgrade, the academy also beefed up the weak spots in its Korean art holdings by adding paintings to the collection. Two large painted screens, a large tiger painting, and a painting of an ancestral shrine are among the newly purchased items being shown for the first time in the gallery.

"The thing I like very much about the screens is that they are distinctively Korean, the coloring, the style of painting, the energy they exude is very Korean at heart," White said.

"Scholar's Items (Ch'aekkori)" dates to the Choson Dynasty.

One screen, meant for use in the woman's quarters, is a continuous landscape of a lotus pond populated with brightly colored birds in the sky and paired fishes in the water. The other screen, for the man's quarters, depicts books, writing implements and objects for scholarly pursuits for a Korean gentleman.

TO COMPLEMENT the academy's permanent Korean art collection, there is an exhibition of Korean fashion from the Ewha Woman's University Museum of Korea. The selection of men's, women's and children's costumes dating from the 19th to 20th centuries is regarded as one of Korea's finest textile collections. This exhibit is the first time the collection is being shown in an American venue. It is scheduled to continue through Oct. 28.

Today's opening festivities include a traditional Korean nongak (farmer's dance) on the front lawn and around the perimeter of the academy. More than 30 brightly costumed dancers will perform the dance, which begins at 1 p.m. Other activities include Pasori, traditional Korean story-singing; music and dance performances; calligraphy demonstrations and children's art activities.

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