Exhibitions at home and abroad to showcase Korean history and culture

Kim Jae-hong (center), director general of the National Museum of Korea, speaks during a press conference at the NMK headquarters in Seoul on Monday. (Choi Si-young/The Korea Herald)
Kim Jae-hong (center), director general of the National Museum of Korea, speaks during a press conference at the NMK headquarters in Seoul on Monday. (Choi Si-young/The Korea Herald)

Exhibitions reaffirming the National Museum of Korea as the country’s preeminent cultural institution will take place throughout the year as it prepares to expand its international outreach, the state-run museum said Monday.

In the press conference outlining the museum’s plans for the year, Kim Jae-hong, the museum’s director general, explained the timing of the exhibitions as the country marks the 80th anniversary of liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.

From November to March next year, the museum will invite the public to “Yi Sun-sin,” a special exhibition on Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the legendary Joseon-era (1392-1910) naval commander who fought off Japanese invaders in the 16th century, showcasing some 100 objects related to Yi and the theme of “peace.”

“The exhibition will be holistic, looking not just at history but at lessons we can learn," Kim said.

Another special exhibition will revisit the achievements of Sohn Kee-chung, the first Korean to win an Olympic medal in 1936. The marathoner, who clinched a gold medal under a Japanese name, will be explored in depth in two separate exhibitions -- “Two Feet Conquering the World” and “Together toward Independence,” which will run from July to December and August to October, respectively.

In the meantime, “Art of Early Joseon,” a three-month exhibition that opens in June, will connect the public with the centuries-old art rich in expression, according to the museum.

Around 300 items, spanning from royal paintings to ceramics as well as Buddhist art of the period, will provide a wide-ranging look at the first 200 years of the Joseon era. The exhibition will be enriched by items on loan from Japanese museums and individuals, the museum said.

The early Joseon period features important links to modern-day Korea, Kim said in explaining the rationale for the time frame of the exhibition.

Kim Hae-won, who is leading the exhibition as the museum’s head of fine arts, said the early Joseon years represent a new beginning, best captured in art.

The National Museum of Korea, Kim added, could draw inspiration from the theme of new beginnings as it marks the 20th anniversary of its relocation to Yongsan from the former Japanese Government-General Building located inside Gyeongbokgung, the main palace in Seoul.

Upcoming efforts to enhance NMK’s global profile will involve many international partners, from Japan to Oceania and Muslim countries.

The NMK will hold “Rediscovering Japan’s Art,” a three-month exhibition starting in June, which may be reciprocated next year through a Tokyo National Museum exhibition on Korean art.

From April to September, the NMK -- the country’s largest museum by holdings -- will focus on Oceanian culture in the first such exhibition by a museum in Korea. The Quai Branly Museum in Paris will loan artifacts related to Pacific island nations in a touring exhibition that will stop at the Jeonnam Museum of Art before returning to France.

“Exhibitions like this could help us see how those Pacific countries were formed and are trying to meet the challenges of today, such as the impact of climate change,” Director General Kim said.

In another first for a Korean museum, the NMK will launch a permanent exhibition hall dedicated to the Islamic world in November. Ninety-six objects to be on view will come on loan from the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.

“We’re thinking about a new space for African culture,” Kim said of the expansion plans, though adding they are not yet finalized and require further research.

Meanwhile, the Denver Art Museum in Colorado will feature Korean moon jars in the exhibition “Korean Moon Jars,” scheduled from March to June. Concurrently, “Special Exhibition on Korean Culture,” set for March-August, will serve as a primer on the Asian country at the Dresden State Art Collections, which comprises 15 German museums. Around 300 objects will be on display, spanning prehistoric to modern times on the Korean Peninsula.

A key exhibition showcasing the much-talked-about Lee Kun-hee collection, a collection of 23,000 artworks and artifacts donated to multiple museums in Korea, will set off on an international tour in November.

Titled “Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared,” the exhibition of some 250 items ranging from Korean paintings to ceramics and crafts from the collection of the late Samsung chairman Lee will start at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC, in November.

The exhibition, renamed “Korean National Treasures: 2000 Years of Art,” will then travel to the Art Institute of Chicago in March next year. It will make its final stop at the British Museum in September 2026, under a title yet to be decided.