Dear Korea CQ members,

I hope you are having a wonderful day.

On March 7, Korea CQ visited the ancient art gallery ‘Barakat Seoul’ in Sogyeok-dong.  

H.E. Arslan Hakan Okcal, Pinar Okcal, H.E. Sarun Charoensuwan, Weeree Thitipoonya, Fayez Barakat, Yuh Soon Yun, Bill Miner, Lissa Miner, Martin Tricaud, Uloff Münster, Patricia Münster, Susan Ling, Weh Gu Ha, Sherry Hwang, Myung Hee Oh, Young Joo Lee, Sumi Jang, Ian Jeong, Claire Hong, Hooran Kim, Choi Jungwha, and Didier Beltoise attended this forum.

Before visiting the ‘Barakat Seoul,’ members had dinner at the 1^st floor café of ‘The Restaurant,’ located right next to the gallery and facing the picturesque Stonewall Walkway that surrounds Gyeongbokgung Palace, where they enjoyed the café’s delicious original organic green salad, seafood pasta, and mixed mushroom pasta.

After dinner, members headed out to ‘Barakat Seoul,’ the newest edition of the Barakat Gallery following Barakat London, Los Angeles and Abu Dabi.

Mr. Fayez Barakat, ancient art dealer and owner of The Barakat Gallery, and Ms. Yuh Soon Yun, vice president of Barakat Seoul, welcomed CQ members at the 2nd floor Barakat Salon, a private lounge area of the gallery. Members enjoyed the champagne, coffee and snacks prepared by the gallery, while watching a video introducing the Barakat Gallery. The Barakat Gallery is an institution with 150 years of tradition, following five generations of sophisticated collectors, which now possess one of the world’s finest collections of ancient art, with over 40,000 supreme quality artworks from different periods and countries.

The official tour of the ‘Barakat Seoul’ then begun.

In the 2nd floor Barakat Salon, members were able to see 17th-18th Century Russian icons of Saint Stephen and the Archangel Michael, a gorgeous 16th Century Armenian illuminated Bible which contains twenty full-page illuminated scenes detailing the life of Christ, a 3rd-4th Century Egyptian funerary shroud of an elite matron, a 5th Century Krater from Greece, a limestone fragment of a relief panel depicting Seti I which was made around 3300 years ago, and lastly, a Bactria-Margiana composite stone idol, made in around 2100BC-1700BC; currently there are only 50 of these idols around the world. Members were struck with admiration at seeing such rare collections up close that are hard to come by at other galleries and museums.

The tour moved downstairs to the 1st floor, where members could see Mr. Fayez Barakat’s first solo exhibition in South Korea, ‘Matter Energy That Matters,’ along with ancient artifacts from his collection. Mr. Barakat has visited numerous excavations sites since his adolescent years, and acquired an extensive archaeological knowledge on ancient cultures. While handling ancient artifacts, he ascertains their intrinsic value through the textures of their surfaces, crystallized in the earth and their material energy. These experiences have granted him a special sensibility to materiality, acting as a driving force in his paintings.

Members then moved onto the lower level to the main exhibition, which was displayed to seem like the inside of a cathedral or temple. Members were able to appreciate Mr. Barakat’s paintings along with ancient artifacts such as the Roman marble torso of the Goddess Artemis, ancient African sculptures, and an ancient Egyptian funerary mask. Along with the paintings and artifacts, music was played in the background, which was specially composed by a young contemporary musician for this exhibition.

The last of the tour was in the Ancient Arts section. Members could see and learn of the pieces from Asia, the West, Mesoamerica and Africa, such as the Tang Terracotta sculpture of a Kneeling Camel, Han painted pottery soldiers, a Hellenistic marble head of Alexander the Great, and Olmec pesquero style Jade Mask.

After the tour, members headed back to the Barakat Salon, where Mr. Fayez Barakat answered any questions members had about the gallery and his collections. Through his sincere answers, members could better understand Mr. Barakat’s philosophy and works.

CICI would like to thank all CQ members who attended the tour.

We would also like to express our gratitude to Mr. Fayez Barakat and Ms. Yuh Soon Yun for their kind support in organizing the wonderful tour for Korea CQ.

Last but not least, we would like to thank Hyojin Chung for her outstanding interpretation help.

On March 22, Korea CQ will be holding a lecture by Architect Jin Seok Yang at the residence of the Thai Ambassador. We are looking forward to our members’ active participation.

Thank you again for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Korea CQ MeeJung Kim

For more picutres, please click the link below

https://goo.gl/photos/ag7mLxG1HsRzkw4p7