BTS star RM (Kim Namjoon) has gifted more than $70,000 to fund the restoration of a traditional Korean bridal gown held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
RM’s donation of 100 million Korean won to the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (OKCHF) will be used to restore the royal hwarot robe from Joseon Dynasty-era (1392-1910), the Art Newspaper reports.
The hwarot will return to South Korea this month for restoration. This will be under the guidance of the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA).
RM also plans to donate another 100m Korean won to OKCHF to support the production of a catalogue of Korean paintings owned by overseas museums. In 2020, he gave 100m Korean won to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
K-pop rapper’s contributions to art institutions
“For South Korea and the US, as the country of origin and the country of ownership, respectively, preserving and conserving our cultural heritage together is the core of this project,” a spokesperson for the CHA told the publication.
“A team of our experts will preserve the original beauty of the hwarot by restoring it according to traditional methods. The project will also help raise awareness of this cultural heritage both at home and abroad.”
Following the restoration process, the wedding robe will go on view at Korea’s National Palace Museum in 2023. It will be exhibited at LACMA in 2024.
LACMA has also opened ‘The Space Between: The Modern in Korean Art’, one of the first major exhibitions of modern Korean art in a Western museum. RM provided comment on some of the artworks for the exhibition’s audio guide.
‘Namjooning’
Elsewhere, the University of Santo Tomas Museum in the Philippines has launched a new interactive exhibition inspired by the term ‘namjooning’, which was coined by RM. It refers to visiting museums and appreciating architecture and art.
The exhibition, called ‘UST Goes Namjooning: Capturing Moments On Campus’, is running until 21 October. It features works of art as well as BTS merchandise, the Straits Times reports.
RM has been nominated for the Blooloop 50 Museum Influencer List 2022, which recognises and celebrates the work and influence of notable individuals within the sector.
Charles Read, blooloop MD, says: “Kim Namjoon is a great example of an influencer in the truest sense of the word: ‘a person who affects or changes the way other people behave’.”
Images: RM / Instagram
