Co-exhibition with the National Gugak Center, entitled
“A return journey after 120 years, Musical Instruments of Joseon in America”

 Korean musical instruments that were submitted to the Chicago International Exhibition of 1893 were donated to America and stored at the Peabody Essex Museum. They will be seen in Korea for the first time in 120 years for the special exhibition, “Musical Instruments of Joseon in America.” This exhibition features a total of eight musical instruments: a mouth organ, a bamboo oboe, a large bamboo flute, a lute with Chinese origin, a dulcimer, an hourglass shaped drum, a six-stringed plucked zither and a janggu. Those instruments were played by the musicians of the Joseon Royal Family. The exhibition also displays scenes from the Chicago International Exhibition with photos and writings of that time. Museum visitors will have the chance to at least indirectly feel the emotional resonance of Korean music being echoed in the sky of America at the end of the 19th century. They can have a better understanding of the music and musical instruments of Joseon by looking at “Child Taoist Hermit Playing Flute” by Kim Hong-do (owned by the National Museum of Korea), a painting that is about music, along with scores, Uigwe and other relics related to Korean traditional music.

Special Exhibition-Related Programs

• Title of the performance: “Joseon, the Period Embroidered with Rhythm and Melodies”
• Dates: October 12, October 23, November 6

• Time: Starting at 2 p.m. (performances last approximately 40 minutes)
• Place: The Great Hall—the entrance of the Permanent Exhibition Hall—of the National Museum of Korea
• Performers: 17 players from the National Gugak Center

Curator’s Talk
Dates: October 16, October 23, November 13, November 20
Time: 7:30 p.m.
: Thematic Exhibition Room of the Permanent Exhibition Hall at the National Museum of Korea
Curator: Park Ji-sun (National Gugak Center)

 

Docent Tour
Dates and Time: Tuesday-Friday (10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Sunday (1:30 p.m.)
Location: Thematic Exhibition Room of the Permanent Exhibition Hall at the National Museum of Korea