Arario Museum in SpaceJongno-gu
Folding Screens from the ARARIO Collection
Five historic Korean folding screens by Yu Deokjang, Kim Heesoon, Kim Eunho, Park Saengkwang and Pak Nosoo, tracing bamboo, birds and dragons across centuries of ink painting.
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Pak Nosoo painted his Cloud Dragon in 1958, before he settled into the spare compositions he is known for. This one goes the other way: strong colour, a crowded surface, and a dragon meant to ward off evil.
It is one of five screens from the ARARIO Collection, shown as paintings rather than furniture. You start with bamboo by the late-Joseon scholar-painter Yu Deokjang and finish at the dragon. In between hang Kim Heesoon's ten-panel birds and flowers, Kim Eunho's wild geese in the reeds, and Park Saengkwang's ten-panel birds and animals from 1972. Each motif carried a wish: bamboo for a scholar's integrity, geese for a comfortable old age. Most people in Seoul meet a byeongpung once a year, unfolded behind the Chuseok table, and nobody looks at it. Here, looking is the point.
Five works make a focused stop for anyone curious about Korean painting. Entry to In Space is ₩15,000 for adults, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 19:00 (last entry 18:00).
Look for
Pak Nosoo's Cloud Dragon (1958)
Look for a dragon among clouds in strong colour and a dense composition, painted before Pak turned to the empty space of his later work.
Park Saengkwang's ten-panel screen (1972)
Birds, flowers and animals run across ten panels, painted before Park built his signature colour style, which you can already see starting here.
Kim Eunho's Reeds and Wild Geese
Wild geese among reeds, the motif Korean painters used to wish someone a comfortable old age.
Yu Deokjang's Bamboo
The show's starting point and oldest work: bamboo by a late-Joseon scholar-painter (1675 to 1756), the emblem of a scholar's integrity.
Kim Heesoon's ten-panel birds and flowers
Flowers and birds spread over ten panels, the kind of auspicious scene a household hung to wish for a good, settled life.
Good for
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want contemporary art: this is five Korean painted screens, the newest from 1972.
With kids
Children under 10 are not admitted to In Space because its spaces are narrow and unsafe for them. Tickets for ages 11 to 13 are ₩6,000.
Also at Arario Museum in Space
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Image credits
8
- 2026 Sindang Creative Arcade Exhibition: Gakgak-ui Gak (Each Angle)Courtesy of Seoul Museum of Craft Art
- Craft Companion @ Show Window #6: SilhouetteCourtesy of Seoul Museum of Craft Art
- From Lacquer Tree to LacquerwareCourtesy of Seoul Museum of Craft Art
- Arario Museum in SpaceSeoul Institute, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- Seoul Museum of Craft ArtYoungjin, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Art Sonje CenterBonnielou2013 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- MMCA Seouljens kuu, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- National Folk Museum of KoreaGaël Chardon, CC BY-SA 2.0