A Huge Exhibition of Korean Buddhist Statues Is Coming to Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum – Concrete Playground

Back in 2001, in the ruins of Changnyeongsa Temple in Yeongwol in Gangwon-do Province, South Korea, more than 300 statues were found. Each stone sculpture depicts an arhat — the name given to followers of Buddha who’ve achieved the enlightened state of nirvana — and they’re all thought to date back 500 years. The collection was dubbed ‘The Five Hundred Arhats’, in fact, after Buddha’s 500 disciples. Also, every figure’s face conveys a lifelike emotion. And, Australians will be able to see a selection of them without leaving the country thanks to Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.

From December 3, 2021, the Five Hundred Arhats exhibition will put a number of the figures on display in Ultimo, incorporating them into an installation created…