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South Korea’s global contribution to pop culture is set to be explored in a new exhibition from London’s V&A museum
Lauren Heath-Jones | Planet Attractions | 14 Jul 2021
South Korean pop group Blackpink is one of the most successful musical acts in the world Credit: YG Entertainment
A major exhibition exploring the global phenomenon of South Korean pop culture will open at London’s Victoria & Albert (V&A) museum next year.
Called Hallyu! The Korean Wave, the exhibition will explore the meteoric rise of South Korean pop culture, from its initial popularity in the late 90s to the global powerhouse it is today.
Opening September 24, 2022, the exhibition will highlight South Korea’s creative contributions across beauty, fashion, cinema, television, music and fandom. It’s being funded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.
“Hallyu! The Korean Wave is the first exhibition of its kind to showcase the colourful and dynamic popular culture of South Korea,” said a museum statement.
“Rising to prominence in the late 1990s, the first tides of ‘hallyu’, meaning Korean wave, rippled across Asia before becoming a worldwide phenomenon that challenges the currents of global pop culture today.”
In recent years, K-pop (Korean pop music) has dominated the global music scene, with Psy’s Gangnam Style garnering more than 4.1bn views on youtube, while pop groups such as Blackpink and BTS are regarded as the most successful in the world.
Similarly, films and television from the country have been commercially and critically successful, with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite winning four Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards, as well as several other awards from BAFTA, the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes.
The exhibition will run until June 25, 2023. Tickets will be available soon.
Other exhibitions opening at the V&A in 2022 include: Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear; which examines the ways masculinity has been interpreted by artists and designers throughout history, Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature; celebrating the life and work of the renowned children’s author and illustrator, and Africa Fashion; which tells the story of African fashion from an “African perspective.”
Museums and galleries
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