A special exhibition on the theme of Gyeongju's Seokguram Grotto has opened in Paris, France. It is a cultural heritage exchange project arranged on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France. The exhibition was held jointly by the City of Gyeongju and the Korea Heritage Service. The division of roles between the two institutions cannot be made out from the published explanation alone.
The Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet held the special exhibition 'Silla, Gold and the Divine' on the theme of Silla together with the Gyeongju National Museum. It was an exhibition that began in May and closed in August. It was introduced as the first special exhibition in Europe to take Silla as its sole theme.
The earlier exhibition dealt with gold artifacts, and this exhibition deals with Seokguram Grotto.
The stone that makes up Seokguram Grotto is granite. The rough grain catches at the fingertips, and when light spreads through the grain the outline of the Buddha's profile changes. The damp air inside Mount Toham in Gyeongju and the raw chill rising from the stone walls cannot be carried to Paris. What reached Paris is the form and the proportions, and the chisel marks left where Silla stonemasons cut into the stone with a punch.
Also placed in this Paris exhibition was a restored replica of the 〈Green-glazed Guardian Deity Wall Bricks〉 that once decorated the base of the wooden pagoda at the Sacheonwangsa Temple site in Gyeongju. Nogyu is a green glaze. That glaze thinly covers the surface of the fired bricks. The replica was made on the basis of conjecture about the original.
The main Buddha of Seokguram Grotto cannot be moved. To show immovable heritage to the world, replicas and reproductions have to step in instead, and at that moment what the audience meets becomes today's interpretation of Silla's stone. There is no need to call that a trick.
Audiences have a right to know where the feeling they received in the exhibition hall came from. Seokguram Grotto is one of the first heritage sites in Korea to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
In Paris, the 'National Heritage Visit Campaign' was launched along with the Seokguram Grotto special exhibition. The 'Korea on Stage' performance event also began in the same city. The relationship among the three events is not confirmed by the announced explanations.
The City of Gyeongju said it would expand international cultural exchange using Silla cultural heritage on the occasion of this exhibition. Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young also made remarks about Seokguram Grotto. The specific projects, budget and period of that expansion will emerge in the plans the City of Gyeongju puts forward.
The sound of punch and hammer that rang through Mount Toham a thousand years ago carried on under the lights of the Paris exhibition hall, but the names of those who made that sound have not survived.
So the journey worth recommending runs in reverse. It is the order in which someone who saw the replica in Paris boards a train for Gyeongju, and someone who has experienced Gyeongju returns to the Paris exhibition hall. Walking up the Mount Toham trail and stepping into Seokguram Grotto, you pass the Eight Deva Guardians in the antechamber and approach the main Buddha on foot.
There is only one place where you can check the temperature of the stone with your palm. The replica in Paris is a device that calls that temperature to mind.
