National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution (Courtesy of the museum)
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution (Courtesy of the museum)

The first-ever overseas exhibition of works donated by the late Samsung Chair Lee Kun-hee at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art will open later than planned, due to the US Federal Government shutdown, the National Museum of Korea announced Thursday.

The opening ceremony for the exhibition “Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared,” which brings together some 200 artworks and artifacts donated by Lee to the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in 2021, was scheduled for Nov. 6.

The US federal government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a budget for the new fiscal year.

NMAA Director Chase Robinson informed NMK Director You Hong-jun in an email that the museum is temporarily closed due to the ongoing US federal government shutdown, adding that the exhibition will run once the museum officially reopens, NMK said in the statement.

In an interview with The Korea Herald in May, Robinson said, “The scale of his (Lee Kun-hee) collection in the quality and comprehensiveness is really impressive. This juxtaposition of traditional and modern art will be really interesting to people.”

The exhibition has been in preparation since 2021 and was officially announced in 2023 through a partnership agreement between the two museums. The exhibition will also travel to Chicago and London following the Washington show.


yunapark@heraldcorp.com