There are about 50 well-known museums around the world that have Korean collections on display. Among them, 16 museums in six nations have individual exhibition rooms reserved for Korean artifacts that have been sponsored by the Korea Foundation, an independent organization affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The museum project has been going on since 1992, only a year after the Korea Foundation itself began. Thanks to the effort, famous institutions have allocated entire sections for permanent Korean exhibitions -- the British Museum in London (2000), the Guimet Museum of Asian Art in Paris (2001), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1998) and most recently (June 8 this year) the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

The number is expected to change to 17 by late this year as soon as the Houston Museum of Natural Science completes its preparation for an additional room this December. The University of Michigan Museum plans to establish its Korean room by 2009.



"Securing a permanent exhibition room for Korean artifacts in renowned museums helps people abroad better understand Korea,” a Korea Foundation official working on the project said. “This helps to upgrade Korea's image as well as its brand name.”

“In the New York Metropolitan Museum, Korea is the only country in Asia that secured its own room for display aside from China and Japan,” Oh Jin Yee, curator of the Museum of Art at Seoul National University said. “Korea may be a latecomer in this area and maybe relatively small in quantity but never in quality.”

Oh added, “Given how much such displays of ancient relics can do to improve the image of a country, we should look 10 to 50 years ahead in managing our exhibition rooms.”

Toil behind refined exhibition rooms

Establishing permanent Korean exhibitions in major museums itself is a big feat given how complicated the whole process is.

First, in order for a foreign museum to receive special funds from the Korea Foundation, the place must first secure an adequate amount of Korean artifacts for proper rotation.

Funding for exclusive Korean galleries is typically split evenly between the museum and the Korea Foundation. In the past, the foundation approached museums with the idea of separate Korean galleries. These days, the number of foreign museums contacting the foundation first with the same idea has increased. The Houston Museum of Natural Science in Texas is one example.

Once the decision is made, the museum will be in full charge of maintaining, repairing and managing the whole collection. In this regard, the curator's knowledge of and passion for Korean culture is an important factor in determining the success of the exhibition room. They are responsible for the layout, education materials, seminars and other events connected to the space.

To help ensure accurate, interesting exhibitions, the Korea Foundation set up workshop for curators in charge of Korean halls.

Annual training for Korean exhibition curators

Although exhibition space for Korean relics is increasing, the Korea Foundation points to the lack of curators with a formal background in Korean arts, most museums entrust the job to curators who majored in Chinese, Japanese or Asian art.

The annual workshop for overseas Korea art curators began in 1999. Some 30 or more foreign curators attend the related seminars, site inspections and symposia for two weeks every year.



Previous workshops focused on historical pieces and ancient art. However, the workshop scheduled for October 2007 will study Korean contemporary art.

The workshops are a success in part thanks to foreign museums and curators enthusiastic enough to fly all the way to Seoul at their own expense. Not only do they take away new insight into Korean culture, they help expand local museum officials' connections to foreign institutions.



The Korea exhibition curator for the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is the only one who has studied Korean art specifically. Consequently, the curator was able to arrange in-depth Korean programs such as “Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392” as well as related academic seminars on Goryeo art, which attracted the attention of various Asian art specialists.

Solution for limited number of Korean artifacts

There is a finite number of Korean artifacts. The solution is cataloging the entire stock of artifacts in private and university museums and loaning them out for temporary displays.

An exhibition of 26 pre-18th century Korean paintings at the Asian Art Museum in Athens, Greece, last April received favorable reviews. The entire collection was on loan from Korea University.

Given how little Korea is acknowledged in history books around the world -- just a couple of paragraphs or pages in U.S. high school textbooks for example -- the permanent Korean exhibitions serve important roles as bases for expanding knowledge of Korea abroad.

Some notable Korean exhibition rooms

Korea Foundation Gallery at British Museum, London

Opened in November 2000, the gallery holds around 3,200 Korean artifacts. The museum dispatched one of their chief curators to Korea to learn how to make the space feel as Korean as possible. At one corner is a “Sarangbang” (a study for a Joseon-era noblemen).







Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Around 5.5 million people a year visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, just off Central Park in Manhattan. The Art of Korea Gallery opened on the second floor at the entrance to the Asian section in June 1998. High-tech displays and traditional Korean designs frame over 200 Korean relics.





Musee Guimet in Paris

The Guimet Museum is the best Asian art museum in all of France. Its collection was transferred from the Louvre in 1945. After extensive preservation and restoration work on the Korean pieces finished in 2001, the Arts de Coree room quintupled in size.


Museo Nacional de las Culturas in Mexico City

Opened in November 2000, Sala de Corea is the first individual exhibition room for Korean artifacts in Central America. The second-floor gallery showcases 66 Korean artifacts, including gilt bronze relics, clothing, porcelain, paintings and furniture ranging from prehistoric times to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). This National Museum of Popular Arts founded in the mid-19th century has 23 permanent exhibition halls for foreign nations, including China, Japan, India, and Egypt.

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

The Korea exhibition room in this museum was established in March 2003 with assistance not only from the Korea Foundation but also the Korean community there. The Korea room was expanded and divided into three sections recently to differentiate time periods. The museum was the first outside Asia to establish a Korean Art Department (1989).

Royal Ontario Museum in Canada

The Korea exhibition room has been on display since September 1999. Some 370 Korean artifacts are displayed with special visual effects to bring out a Korean atmosphere. The museum even published a special guidebook to commemorate the opening of its Korean room.

Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama

This is currently the only museum in the southern U.S. that has an individual collection room for Korea. Founded in 1951, it has played a pivotal role in introducing Korean culture through various exhibitions and special functions over the past half a century. The Korean gallery was renovated and reopened in March 2003. During renovation, the chief curator and display designer made personal trips to Korea to study the interior of Korean museums and old palaces. The Korean exhibition has since become one of the most popular with visitors.