Thai Buddhists believe in karma and that people who commit evil deeds will be punished after death. So, it was a surprise to discover that Korean Buddhists have similar ideas about life after death, even though most Koreans are Hinayana Buddhists and most Thais are Theravada Buddhists.
On view now at the National Museum Bangkok (NMB), the exhibition "A New Encounter: Immersive Gallery Of Korean Art" includes the 12-minute immersive digital video Journey Of The Soul: Walking Through The Eternal Cycle Of Birth, Death, And Rebirth, which depicts the afterlife based on 19th-century Buddhist paintings from the collection of the National Museum of Korea (NMK), including The Ten Kings Of Hell, Underworld Messengers and The Assembly Of Amitabha Buddha.
Viewers follow a journey of deceased souls through the set of The Ten Kings Of Hell paintings. The paintings portray the Korean Hinayana Buddhists' belief that within three years after the death of a person, they will be judged by 10 kings. At Hell Of Pounding, the souls are forced to run bare feet non-stop on a rocky path. At Hell Of Iron Beds, the souls are grilled with heat. The deceased will be reborn based on their good or evil conduct while alive. At the end, Bodhisattva says that he is willing to bear all the pain and help the souls from hell.
The exhibition of video works and paintings is a collaboration between Thailand's Fine Arts Department and NMK; it's also part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreed between NMB and NMK in 2019.
Nitaya Kanokmongkol, executive director of the Office of National Museums, explained that the objective of the MoU is to exchange collections and knowledge between NMB and NMK.
"The Covid-19 pandemic started after the MoU. As a result, we could not organise any exhibitions during the lockdowns and travel restrictions. In the meantime, NMK had developed immersive digital videos to promote its cultural exhibitions. Immersive digital video is another kind of digital technology. It is similar to virtual reality, but VR requires a headset to view the exhibitions. However, audiences do not need special glasses to view the immersive exhibitions which generate the three-dimensional images that appear to surround the audience. This makes the audiences feel like they are part of the animation or exhibition," said Nitaya.
"NMK aims to promote its culture and advance technology while NMB wants to learn from NMK. As a museum, we cannot avoid digital exhibitions, but we have to adapt the technology of NMK to suit with NMB's condition and situation. As an archaeology and history museum, NMB intends to design digital art by adapting the archaeological and historical collections to convey messages to viewers," explained Nitaya.
"A New Encounter: Immersive Gallery of Korean Art" aims to showcase Buddhist art from South Korea and Thailand in the forms of traditional art and immersive digital media. The exhibition consists of two immersive digital videos -- the aforementioned Journey Of The Soul: Walking Through The Eternal Cycle Of Birth, Death, And Rebirth in addition to Royal Procession With The People -- and two sculptures of the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva deity, one from Thailand and one from South Korea.
The executive director of the Office of National Museums explained that "A New Encounter", which was first displayed in South Korea, was created to narrate Bodhisattva philosophy.
A statue, Pensive Bodhisattva, is exhibited in the middle of the room amid a display of immersive digital art. The Pensive Bodhisattva figure is posed with his right hand touching his cheek. The pose portrays that he is thinking how he can help mankind.
The actual Pensive Bodhisattva statue is revered as a masterwork in South Korea and so is not allowed to be transported overseas. Thus, the exhibition in Bangkok features the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva statue as a replacement, and which NMB selected to display alongside the Korean Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva sculpture.
"The word Avalokiteshvara refers to eyes gently gazing downwards, which is also a pose of thinking how to help mankind. The duty of Bodhisattva is to help humans out of suffering. Thus, people worship Bodhisattva and ask Bodhisattva to help them out of their suffering," she said.
"South Korea's Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was excavated from Bunhwangsa Temple in Gyeongju, South Korea. Bunhwangsa is one of the primary Buddhist temples in Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla [57 BCE to 935 CE]. The sculpture was made of granite which is a difficult material to sculpt due to its coarse particles. Thailand's Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was excavated from Sala Thueng Temple in Surat Thani 1,400 years ago. His feet and arms have been lost, but there is a possibility that he once held a lotus in his left hand," said Nitaya.
Another immersive digital media work, Royal Procession With The People, depicts King Jeongjo's eight-day excursion to Hwaseong in 1795 and his banquet to celebrate the completion of Hwaseong Fortress in 1796. This animation was created based on uigwe (royal) protocols which were recorded in texts and images. Royal protocols also included the important royal rites and ceremonies of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).
"A curator chose Royal Procession With The People because before the reign of King Jeongjo, Korean people were not allowed to look at the king. Everyone had to keep their heads bowed down or hide themselves in their houses. King Jeongjo was the first king who allowed everyone to view the procession. Authorities even distributed food to the people. This helped the Joseon Dynasty to be close to their subjects. The paintings of the procession were on display, but viewers did not realise that it was a historical moment. The curator decided to turn them into an immersive exhibition, so viewers would feel like they are in the procession," Nitaya said.
This is NMB's first immersive digital exhibition and feedback from viewers has been positive.
"The exhibition targets Gen Z who are familiar with digital media. We discovered that the exhibition is effective; children especially enjoy it. They can understand the messages of the exhibition and remember the name of the Korean king. In today's digital age, most people like digital media. Viewers feel that the exhibition is modern and up to date. The digital exhibition helps viewer to grasp concepts more quickly," said Nitaya.
Currently, NMB is working in co-operation with the Busan IT industry to create a digital exhibition about Ayutthaya's diplomatic relations.
"In the past, many international ships docked at Ayutthaya which was a wealthy and prosperously capital. The animation was created based on old maps that were drawn by foreigners. However, with the limited budget, there will be only a large-screen video. This exhibition will probably be displayed in April," said Nitaya.
The executive director of the Office of National Museums hopes that "A New Encounter: Immersive Gallery Of Korean Art" will help visitors to regard NMB as an up-to-date museum.
"Many visitors think the NMB is uninteresting and out of date, so we launched a policy to improve museums nationwide. The National Museum Bangkok Phranakorn is the first branch to try digital media, and this technique will be expanded to other branches. We are ready to move forward, learn new techniques and adapt them to suit our museum. We hope that visitors will appreciate NMB's efforts at improvement," concluded Nitaya.
"A New Encounter: Immersive Gallery Of Korean Art" runs at the National Museum Bangkok, room 401 until May 21. The admission fee is 30 baht for Thai citizens and 200 baht for foreigners. For more information, visit facebook.com/nationalmuseumbangkok.
