A special exhibition has been arranged where visitors can encounter palace furniture restored by artisans, including candlesticks and braziers that preserve the appearance of items used by kings during the Joseon Dynasty. While decades of restoration work at Gyeongbokgung have largely re-established the buildings, opportunities to view the interior furnishings of palace halls in their original form have been rare.
The Korea Heritage Service and the Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation are holding the special exhibition "Meeting the Hands and Tools of Artisans" at Jeukjodang in Deoksugung through June 21, as part of the "Palace Hall Interior Furnishings Reproduction Project" carried out with sponsorship from Hermès.
The special exhibition features 14 pieces across 11 types of furnishings produced over four years beginning in 2018, including iron silver-inlaid candlesticks, an iron silver-inlaid hand brazier, a flat bed, a reading desk, an inkstone table, a seated lamp, a brass lampstand, a woven straw mat with hemp patterns, and a folding screen depicting a hundred longevity and hundred fortune characters (Baeksu Baekbokdo). Separately, three videos showing the work process for items restored in 2025-2026, such as iron silver-inlaid candlesticks and the Irworobongbyeong (Painting of the Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks), are being screened, and visitors can also see the artisans' working tools.
The "iron silver-inlaid candlestick," decorated by carving grooves into the metal surface and inlaying silver lines, was crafted by Choi Kyo-jun, a holder of Seoul's intangible heritage title of silver inlay master, with reference to a relic held by the National Museum of Korea. Shin Sun-i, a certified successor and his student, also participated in this restoration work. The Korea Heritage Service described it as "a meaningful case in which traditional techniques and artisan spirit are passed down, as the student repairs and restores an object made by the teacher over the passage of time."
The "Baeksu Baekbokdo folding screen" was produced with reference to the "embroidered folding screen of a hundred longevity and fortune characters" held by the National Palace Museum of Korea, by Kim Tae-ja, a transmission education teacher of the national intangible heritage embroidery craft, along with calligrapher Park Jin-woo, the Onjium clothing workshop of the Traditional Culture Research Institute, and Sangmundang.
Hong Jung-hyun, chairwoman of Arumjigi, stressed that it is "an important project that beautifies the palaces by adding interior furnishings and enables traditional artisans to carry on their techniques and spirit."
Deoksugung visitors can enter Jeukjodang and view the exhibition under the guidance of docents every hour on the hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On June 16, a "Meeting with Traditional Artisans" event is also planned, where visitors can directly hear commentary from Shin Sun-i, the certified successor of the silver inlay craft.
The exhibition also draws attention as it offers a chance to see the interior of Deoksugung's Jeukjodang. Jeukjodang and the nearby Seokeodang within Deoksugung are where King Seonjo stayed after returning from refuge when all the palaces in Seoul had burned down during the Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War), and where King Injo, who became king through the Injo Restoration coup, was enthroned.
Meanwhile, the Korea Heritage Service and Arumjigi have been carrying out work since 2015 to fill the interiors of Gyeongbokgung's Geunjeongjeon and Sajeongjeon, and Deoksugung's Hamnyeongjeon, with reproduced furnishings.
