Musée Guimet - Guimet research plan 2026-2030

Guimet research plan 2026 2030 27

Part 1 → The structuring axes of research at the Villa Guimet

Joseon Korea :

a " hermit kingdom " ?

Studying the history of relations and exchanges between Korea and

the West seems relevant , as it is , in many respects , so singular .

Indeed , if , today , the Hallyu wave has spread widely in all industrial

and cultural sectors of the world , the history of this civilization is

nevertheless marked by many preconceived ideas . The most

f lagrant is the fact that Joseon Korea , the royal dynasty that ruled

the peninsula between 1392 and 1910 , is considered a " hermit

kingdom " , an expression first used by the American orientalist

William Elliot Griffis in 1882 . This idea is based on the sources

available to him in his time , in particular the account of the Dutch

purser Hendrik Hamel ( 1630 - 1692 ) . However , the textual sources

( Korean , Chinese , Japanese , Portuguese , Dutch , Spanish , French ,

English ) , ranging from the 15thto the 18th century , relate , on the

contrary , to a Korea actively linked to the political and artistic

movements that were then developing in Eurasia .

Therefore , this research project will focus on an in - depth study of

the artistic , scientif ic and political relations between the Joseon

Kingdom and neighboring powers and will focus , in particular , on

diplomatic exchanges and ambassadors ' gifts ( analysis of

exchanges between Ming and Qing China and Joseon Korea ;

studies of Korean objects offered , exchanged or produced for

neighbouring powers between the 15th and the 19th centuries ) .

More specif ically , he will focus on the study of two unique works

kept at the Musée Guimet and dating from the 18thcentury : the oil painting entitled

" Korean of f icials , foreign envoys , seen as a bust behind a balustrade " ( MET 2320 )

and " At the door of the Joseon palace " ( EG 2183 ) .

In addition , this research project will also deal with the impact of the Jesuit presence

in China and its influence on the Korea of the Joseons in the 18th century ( in

particular through the application of the Jesuit calendar , knowledge in astronomy ,

cartography ) , the organization and reconstitution of royal libraries . The works

concerned by this study will be Joseon pictorial productions and ceramics from the

15th to the 19th century .

In order to set up this programme , scientif ic collaboration is envisaged with research

institutes , libraries ( BnF , BULAC , Collège de France ) and the Centre for Diplomatic

Archives . This research is part of the exhibition " The Secret Art of Trompe - l ' oeil in

the Korean Pictorial Art of the Joseons " , which will be held in September 2026 at the

Musée Guimet for the " Year of Korea " . On this occasion , it is planned to restore , and

then present , these two important paintings in order to deconstruct the idea that

Joseon Korea was a " hermit kingdom " , an expression still used in many publications .

The HikarIA

research project

To shed light on our perception of the Asian world and that of the Asian world of

the West the study of the photographic collections of the Musée Guimet is

at the time of the 21st century a major challenge The HikarIA research project has

the preservation study and enhancement of photographic collections restoration

reconditioning digitization indexing of collections online publication of results

on a database The musée Guimet in fact has one of the richest collections in the

world of old photographs of Japan The volume of these collections 19 000 items

from the important collection of Dr Joseph Dubois as well as the other collections

Portrait of Cho Man - Yong ( 1776 – 1846 ) , High - Ranking Of f icial ,

Korea , Chosõn Dynasty ( 1392 – 1910 ) , ink and Colors on Paper ,

MA 6342 . © musée Guimet / RMN - GP , Paris / Jean - Yves and

Nicolas Dubois .

of old photographs of Japan ) and their temporal and aesthetic unity ( Meiji period ,

1868 - 1912 ; many of them belonging to the " touristic " aesthetics of the " Yokohama

School " ) encourage us to approach them from a statistical point of view , but also

raise the question of the mass indexing of these collections .

This is why these considerations make the Musée Guimet ' s collection particularly

relevant for testing and ref ining artif icial intelligence tools with a view to making

them automatically describe these old photographs .

From then on , the data obtained during the project ( digitizations , existing metadata ,

metadata produced ) will be put online on a platform that brings out new knowledge

on the beginnings of photography in Japan : attribution of photographs by

association , studio economy , aesthetic evolutions , iconographic circulations ,

models , accessories , etc . These elements will feed into a broader ref lection on the

dissemination of images , the mutual inf luences between Europe and East Asia , the

emergence of stereotypes about Japan and tourism practices at the dawn of

globalisation . HikarIA will open up new horizons of research at the crossroads of

historical , aesthetic , economic and social issues .

Thus , this project will be based on the development of new tools for art history

research , by optimizing the automated description by artificial intelligence

of old photographs ( testing and ref ining of various AI models ) . It will eventually

enrich knowledge about photography in Japan during the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras

( 1853 - 1912 ) , in partnership with external researchers , and disseminate the results

of the research through scientif ic articles , communications , conferences in France

and Japan , and perhaps an exhibition project on the beginnings of photography

in Japan .

Scientif ic cooperation is ensured through a partnership with the company TEKLIA

and associated researchers ( Saki Toriumi , Nihon University College of Arts , and

Jules Keenan , Toronto Metropolitan University ) , and funding by the Caisse

des Dépôts , France 2030 , " digitization of heritage and architecture " and by the

Musée Guimet .

KŌZABURŌ Tamamura Geisha Playing the Shamisen Meiji Period early 1890s Hand Colored