Our Visit to the Hallyu! Exhibition
Written by: Douglas Barrett | Posted on: May 2nd, 2023
Our Visit to the Hallyu Exhibition
28 April 2023 at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Hallyu! at the V&A Museum
The British Korean Society were fortunate enough to be invited on 28 April to visit the Hallyu exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition features everything “K” – and it didn’t disappoint.
We visited on a Friday night – the museum is open late and on the last Friday in the month they have a DJ, drinks and it’s a great atmosphere. Really recommended.
Our hosts were Rosalie Kim, the curator of the Korean section along with her colleagues Yoojin Choi and Dasom Sung. They began by showing us some new art and textiles including an incredible psychedelic tapestry called Big Smile which had been created by artists in North Korea and smuggled in and out of the DPRK in pieces back to Seoul. Just amazing.
The Hallyu exhibition is a home run – hits the spot. It’s divided into coloured sections to show off the various aspects of K culture. It starts with a sensory overload of PSY and Gangnam Style – for many the epitome of K culture. The video still looks fab!
Other parts of the exhibition featured a piece on K drama, looking back at “Winter Sonata” the first K drama to be shown overseas. You could also immerse yourself in a Korean film fight scene. One of the best things is to do a virtual class and record yourself doing a K pop dance – your efforts are then shown on a big screen. There are also sections on textiles and K fashion as well as K Pop and a super Squid Games display. My favourite part – undoubtedly the toilet from Parasite; incredible set up and it all looked so small.
Following the exhibition 20 of us had dinner at Ognisko, a Polish restaurant at the Polish Club. Splendid building with some lovely paintings showing the links between the UK and Poland – the food was wonderful; the service less so.
Ognisko Restaurant
Many thanks to Sylvia Park for arranging the viewing and the free tickets – and to Hannah for logistics on the day. A great way to spend a Friday evening.
