Seoul Museum of Craft Art opens two exhibitions centered on brief but ambitious Korean Empire

The Seoul Museum of Craft Art opens two special exhibitions on Tuesday, both centered on the Korean Empire (1897-1910), a brief period when Korea sought to modernize through craft and industrial innovation. The larger exhibition, “The Hybrid,” marks 140 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, gathering 24 objects from European collections—23 from France and one from Germany—some not displayed in Korea in over 120 years. The second, “Folded Time, Unfolded Memory: Andong Palace,” focuses on the royal women who lived on the museum’s grounds, particularly Empress Sunjeonghyo and Princess Kim Deok-su. Museum director Kim Soo-jung described the two shows as “almost like an omnibus,” connected through the Korean Empire period.