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Title | Korea CQ - Epilogue of the visit to 'Barakat Seoul' | ||||
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Posted by | webmaster | Hit | 6816 | Date | 2017.03.08 |
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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 1st 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 |