Korea Now!

Yes, I know this is a blog about our trip to Europe, but we went to an exhibit at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris yesterday, called Korea Now! Apparently, September 2015 through July 2016 is a yearlong celebration of diplomacy between Korea and France.  I had noticed that there were SO MANY Korean tourists here (I could hear them speaking Korean, so I knew for sure--it wasn't just a visual guess), and now I know why.


Korea Now! was my favorite museum exhibition here.  Everything was so beautifully presented and curated.  Clean modern lines with lots of blank spaces in between--that's definitely more of the aesthetic I gravitate toward.

I photographed almost everything because it was all so gorgeous!  Be prepared to feast your eyes.  Here's a smattering of the photos I took.  Grace and Amy, you both particularly would have loved it. 

 Women's traditional hanbok with a modern twist.  There were even some designed by Karl Lagerfeld (but my photo came out blurry).  The way they were presented reminded me of the Alexander McQueen exhibit in NYC.  I could have spent hours and hours looking at them all, but I knew my family members would not appreciate that.

  A hanbok as art, so amazing.

This quirky face spells "ee sang", which is the name of the designer of this "font". 

Children's hanbok with "obangsaek" five-color sleeves.

I loved these curtains that were part of the display.  All white and clean, but the piecework added dimension and interest. I think I might need to make some copies myself for our own house.

 Glasswork inspired by dandelions.

 Interesting glass vases.

 The screen behind Steve and Stephanie is made of paper pulp.

There were even some items in the gift shop from the Korean exhibit, but at these prices, I looked with my eyes, not with my hands.  (Teapot is 220 Euros, or $240 USD.)

For posterity, I want to mention that we also went to the Musee d'Orsay yesterday morning.  I liked the d'Orsay better than the Louvre--it's smaller and more manageable.  Also, personally, I like Impressionist art better than the older art in the Louvre.  This was my favorite painting at d'Orsay, a scene of the Seine River with iconic Paris buildings and bridge.  It was painted by Camille Pissarro, who I thought was a woman but is actually a man.  I didn't take that many photos at the d'Orsay, which I'm sure indicates something.  I think I was pretty museumed out.