The British Museum has announced a new exhibition on Korean art and culture in partnership with Samsung.
The exhibition will explore more than 2,000 years of Korean art and history, drawing on works from the collection of late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-Hee.
Spanning from 300 BC to the present day, Korea will be the first major exhibition on the country's art and history at the British Museum in more than 40 years.
"Over 2,000 years, Korean art has developed through constant exchange, adaptation and reinvention," said Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum.
Jeong Seon (1676–1759), Clearing after rain on Mount Inwang, 1751. Hanging scroll, ink on paper.National Museum of Korea, LKH1
"This exhibition brings together extraordinary works from across that long history, allowing visitors to see how ideas and forms have been reimagined across generations, and how a distinctive cultural identity has been continuously shaped in dialogue with the wider world to this very day."
Per a press release, the show comes at a time when Korean culture "has an unprecedented global presence, often described as the Korean Wave, or hallyu".
It includes works and objects on loan from the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, alongside works from the British Museum.
The exhibition will showcase historic national treasures as well as modern and contemporary pieces, from a 13th-century gourd-shaped celadon ewer to a work by visionary artist Nam June Paik.
Bodhisattva triad with a single halo, gilt bronze, Korea, Three Kingdoms period, AD 500–600.National Museum of Korea, LKH4
"A sutra inscribed by a deposed queen, an ink landscape of a mountain in Seoul, a painting of quasi-nude figures ambling through an imagined paradise, and sketches inscribed on cigarette foil: these images not only illuminate Korea's history but also carry personal messages that resonate across time and cultures," said Sang-ah Kim, curator of Korean collections.
You Hong-June, director of the National Museum of Korea, said: "In the heart of London, visitors can discover the very roots of K-culture, which is enjoying worldwide popularity."
Korea will run from 1 October 2026 through 31 January 2027.
Images courtesy of the British Museum
