Palace museum to host international meeting on heritage restoration

An international conference on the restoration of damaged cultural heritage will take place next week at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul.

The conference entitled “Damaged Cultural Heritage of the World: Its Restoration and Future,” hosted by the state-run museum, will bring together government officials and experts on heritage from Korea, Japan and France. The Wednesday gathering will draw on the three countries’ shared experience in restoring and using cultural heritage.

Korean officials will kick off the discussion, revisiting efforts to revive Sungnyemun, a revered landmark destroyed in a 2008 fire. It took five years to restore the gate colloquially known as Namdaemun, which sits between Seoul Station and Seoul Plaza.

Experts from Japan will discuss the restoration of Shuri Castle in Okinawa. The UNESCO World Heritage Site was also damaged by a fire, in 2019, requiring five years for a complete restoration.

French culture officials, meanwhile, will present ways to mark restoration efforts, such as establishing a museum dedicated to the destroyed cultural heritage. An example of such an effort is Notre Dame Cathedral, scheduled to reopen in December following an April 2019 fire. An exhibition exploring the highlights of the medieval Parisian cathedral’s history is underway at the National Palace Museum of Korea.

Officials from Histovery -- the French startup that specializes in augmented reality and has teamed up with the NPMK for the exhibition -- will speak about making museum experiences more immersive using digital devices.