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| 'Iron Seated Buddha' from the 9th century / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Iron is the most widely used type of metal, accounting for over 90 percent of metal production from the ancient world till today. It provides high durability at a low cost and has contributed to human development by being the material for machinery. However, its strength also has shepherded humans to gratify their ambition of pioneering and conquest.
"Metal, Iron and Steel: The Cultural History of Iron," an exhibition at the National Museum of Korea (NMK), sheds light on how iron has become the most actively used metal in our lives through 735 artifacts representing metal culture in East Asia, mostly Korea, China and Japan.
The exhibit consists of three sections "Iron Meets Human," "Iron Makes Power" and "Iron Enters Life."
Pure iron is relatively soft, so it is commonly combined in alloys with other metals to make stronger steel. The first part of the exhibit deals with how mankind discovered the metal from meteoric iron and developed smelting and steel-making skills.
At first, iron made farming tools and then was used for weapons. As early as the Three Kingdoms era in Korea, starting B.C. 1st century, iron was used for burial accessories, which hints materials and techniques for steelmaking were established.
Iron was also used to strengthen wheels, which was the strongest power force before the invention of the steam engine.
The emergence of iron has led to increased productivity as well as wars, and iron armor and firelocks are on display.
"We can say the increased productivity through iron means growth, while war caused by power means destruction. Part 2 goes down to how iron-birthed power had created numerous contradictory events," the NMK curator said.
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| 'Vertical Plate Armor' on display at the 'Metal, Iron and Steel: the Cultural History of Iron' exhibition / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea |
Iron is an indispensable material for daily life as well. In "Iron Enters Life," iron is shown being used for practical reasons such as building materials and tools and at the same time used for creating religious icons such as Buddha statues and colorful ceramics. Folk paintings from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) contain many iron tools used for basic living, ancestral rites and rituals.
The exhibit continues to very contemporary use of iron, presenting a photograph of an iron bridge across the Hangang River, a structure that people use very often.
Also on view is visual artist and set designer Yoon Jeong-sup's 1995 sculpture "Iron Plate+Wires+Plumbum," which uses various types of metal to describe diverse shapes of the human figure.
"People often say gold lasts forever and iron gets rusty and disappears. However, as we've seen the history of iron, iron might exist in perpetuity," the curator said.
The exhibit runs until Nov. 26 and then travels to the Jeonju National Museum from Dec. 19 to Feb. 20, 2018. Admission is 6,000 won for adults. For more information, visit museum.go.kr or call 02-2077-9000.
