2016 Korean Buddhist Arts Special Exhibition from 7 to 20 September, 2016
From one Thousand year-long Past to the Present, and From the Present to one Thousand year-long Future

The 2016 Korean Buddhist Arts Special Exhibition will be open at Ara Art Center in Insa-dong, Seoul, from 7 to 20 September 2016. It is hosted by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Cultural Heritage Administration. Started from the year 1970, the 40-year-old Korean Buddhist Arts Exhibition boosts its long history and tradition, as the representative Buddhist art event in Korea.

This year's theme is "From one Thousand year-long Past to the Present, and From the Present to one Thousand year-long Future," meaning that the excellence of the past one-thousand-year-long Buddhist arts has paved the road for another one-thousand-year-long future. In this exhibition, not only the past awarded artists in this exhibition but also newly discovered Buddhist artists were invited to present their art pieces under the theme of past, present and future of the Buddhist arts.

The artists who participate in the section of sculpture are Ven. Cheongwon, Seoksan Go, Myeongok Park, Sunyeol Yang, Jinho Jung, Bongseok Han, to list a few; in the section of painting, Ven. Doil, Dohyun, Bongong, Seonggak, Kyoungmi Kim, Yeongok Kim, etc.; in the section of crafts, Ven. Myeongcheon, Heungchan Gwak, Kiho Kim, etc. Likewise, 30 artists participated and their 44 art pieces will be displayed at the exhibition.

Some of the highlights among all are the refined and exquisite Avalokiteshvara statue made by Ven. Chungwon, the Busan City Intangible Cultural Property No. 20, a hand-made quilted monastic robe made of cotton wool by Haeja Kim, the Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 107, and the colored Dharma Bell cast by Gwangsik Won, the Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 112.

The Korean Buddhist Arts Exhibition has exhibited the awarded pieces of Buddhist arts from the open competition that it runs every year. But from the year 2012, it has run a special exhibition biannually together with the ordinary annual exhibition to continuously support the established artists by provide the promotional channels, as well.