National Museum of Korea seeks to broaden reach of Korean culture overseas
South Korean culture has much more to offer than K-pop.
Setting its sights on making South Korea one of the top five nations in terms of soft power, the state-run National Museum of Korea has been actively promoting Korean art and culture by providing grants to Korean galleries at overseas institutions through its Overseas Korean Galleries Support Program since 2009.
A total of 23 museums in 10 countries are part of the program as of May this year. They include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, to name a few.
For example, the Reitberg Museum in Switzerland is hosting a special exhibition titled "Hallyu! The Korea Wave" from April 4 to Aug. 17, showcasing Korea's vibrant and diverse pop culture. With over 200 objects on display, the exhibition invites visitors to delve into the genesis of hallyu, its links to traditional Korean art, and its global influence on artistic fields, including pop culture, film and fashion.
On view at the Reitberg Museum are works by video art pioneer Paik Nam-june, a replica of the set from the four-time Oscar-winning film "Parasite," and hanbok worn by Korean celebrities. The exhibition also features a Google Art Dance Room where visitors can learn K-pop moves and dance along with choreographers.
The exhibition is part of a traveling series that began in 2022. The show was created by a curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum in the UK appointed through NMK's support program. The exhibition has toured internationally, with stops at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2024.
A special touring exhibition will showcase artifacts donated by the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee starting in November.
The exhibition will feature various Korean cultural artifacts, including several National Treasures, according to a senior official at the state-run museum. Also, curatorial staff members have been dispatched to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art and the Art Institute of Chicago to prepare for the exhibition.
The first stop will be at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in the US in November, followed by the Art Institute of Chicago in March and the British Museum in September next year.
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