"Red Peach Blossoms" (2021) by Hwang Su-ro on display at Deoksugung. Courtesy of MMCA

Deoksugung, one of the five royal palaces in central Seoul, is characterized by its dynamic history despite being the smallest of the palaces. It was originally built as a private residence of the royal family during the early Joseon period and later served as a palace for King Gojong in 1897 after he returned from the Russian legation where he sought refuge after Japanese assassins murdered his wife, Empress Myeongseong.

Starting in the 1910-45 Japanese colonial period, the role of the palace continued to change – briefly serving as a public park during the 1930s and as the site of the National Museum of Korea after the Korean War until the early 1970s – until it was registered as Historic Site No. 124.

Such historical shifts within Deoksugung have been reflected in its architectural designs as well as its outdoor gardens.

It is here, where the exhibition, “Deoksugung Project 2021: Garden of Imagination,” jointly organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) and the Cultural Heritage Administration, is being held until November 28.
 

Nine teams of contemporary artists, landscape architects, animators and botanists look back on the history of Deoksugung and reinterpret the garden’s role through media art, installations, paintings and craft works.

Among the showcased works, one notable piece is produced by Hwang Su-ro, who has been named Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 124 for her mastery of court crafts. She has revived “chaehwa” (the royal craft of making silk flowers), a form of court gardening that was cut short after Japan forcibly annexed Korea.

Made with silk, ramie fabric, beeswax and pine pollen, chaehwa’s everlasting flowers embodied hope for the kingdom’s long and powerful reign. It even embellished the royal banquet held in celebration of the 40^th anniversary of King Gojong’s enthronement in 1902.

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