KOREA: 2000 Years of Creativity

SANG-AH KIM

PRESENTED AT the British Museum in Autumn 2026, “Korea: 2,000 Years of Creativity” brings the Lee Kun-Hee Collection, one of the most significant collections of Korean art, to Europe for the first time. The exhibition is drawn from the more than 23,000 works donated to Korea’s national museums in 2021 by the family of the late Samsung Chairman, Lee Kun-Hee (1942–2020). The gift marked the beginning of a new chapter for the collection, allowing it to be shared more widely with audiences in Korea and abroad. Following a series of exhibitions across Korea and two presentations in the United States, the collection reaches London through a landmark collaboration between the British Museum, the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.

Over the past century, few countries have undergone so dramatic a transformation in global perception as South Korea. Korean cinema, television, music, fashion, cuisine and technology have become international phenomena, reshaping how audiences around the world understand the country. London has been no exception: in 2022, the Victoria and Albert Museum hosted the enthusiastically received exhibition, “Hallyu! The Korean Wave”. More recently, in 2026, the city’s first Korean food festival drew extraordinarily long queues, while concerts held by BTS, the pop band, brought tens of thousands of fans to the city. The exhibition suggests that the roots of this contemporary visibility extend far beyond the cultural exports of the 21st century, lying in a long history of creativity, resilience and technical skills spanning more than two millennia.

Rather than focusing on a single medium or artistic tradition, the exhibition adopts a chronological framework, something made possible by the exceptional historical breadth and depth of the Lee Collection. It is the first such ambitious project in the UK since the 1984 exhibition, “Treasures from Korea”, also held at the British Museum. Informed by the contributions of twenty-one scholars from Korea and the UK, the exhibition and its companion book explore aspects of the religious, social and historical contexts of the works. A few select objects from the British Museum’s own holdings create an opportunity to query connections between the past and the present.

Each era of Korean history was shaped by its own religious and ideological orientation, social system and artistic achievements, as each period built upon and transformed inherited traditions. Across these transformations, Korea’s distinctive artistic traditions were forged through cultural exchange, technical innovation and creative reinterpretation, in a recurring pattern that continues to inform the country’s cultural identity today. This core message is realised through the exhibition design, which comprises a spinal tunnel leading visitors on a journey through time, social and artistic developments of each period. Throughout the exhibition, moments of contemporary connection link historic objects to Korea’s present-day creativity.

The earliest object in the exhibition is a set of bronze ritual rattles (1), dating from the 3rd to 1st century BC. They evoke Korea’s early history when farming communities were giving way to increasingly complex societies in which art, ritual and political authority were closely intertwined. Bronze technology reached Korea sometime after 1500 BC, bringing not only new materials, but also profound social change. Bronze became associated with prestige and authority, and metalworking would remain the preserve of the ruling elite for centuries. Bronze weapons and ritual objects alike served as powerful expressions of status, reinforcing the dominion of leaders whose roles combined political and spiritual responsibilities. These rattles were almost certainly employed in shamanistic ceremonies, where they were shaken to summon or repel spirits. Produced in a variety of forms — including single and double-headed examples and elaborate eight-branched types — they generated sounds that would have animated ritual performances. Their sophisticated design and craftsmanship testify to the technical skill of early Korean metalworkers while also reflecting the central role of ritual in legitimising political power. This remarkable group is among twenty-three works in the exhibition designated “National Treasures” or “Treasures”, the two highest categories in South Korea’s system for recognising cultural heritage of exceptional historical, artistic and scholarly significance.

In the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC–AD 676), each major state — Goguryeo in the north, Baekje in the southwest and Silla in the south-east, alongside the Gaya Confederacy — sought to consolidate its power by embracing new ideas, new technologies and new ways of manufacturing. What distinguished the elites of this period was not merely their extravagant wealth, but also their command of materials and technology, as seen in burial objects from Three Kingdoms tumuli, such as gold crowns, belts and earrings. The exhibition includes a pair of gilt-bronze burial shoes (2), dating from the 5th to the 6th century. Their large size suggests they were not intended for everyday wear, and similar shoes have been found in Silla tombs.

The mastery of high-fired stoneware, acquired during the Three Kingdoms period, represented another leap forward. This technically demanding process allowed for the manufacture of thin-walled, yet durable, vessels, as well as elaborately shaped ritual objects. The 5th century tall pedestal (3), designed to support a vessel, was most likely used for ritual offerings. The wheel-thrown form is adorned with cut-out geometric shapes and small, appliquéd animal figurines. At once technically accomplished and deeply expressive, it exemplifies the exuberant ritual stoneware of the Three Kingdoms period.

The most transformative development of this period was the arrival of Buddhism, which reached Korea by the 4th century, having travelled from its origins in India through Central Asia and China. Once established, it became a dominant force in Korean spiritual and artistic life. Small gilt-bronze figures, such as the 6th century Bodhisattva Triad (4), capture the intimate relationship between faith and art. Made for private devotion, their luminous gilding was understood not as mere surface ornament, but as an embodiment of divine radiance. Designated a National Treasure, this small figure is among the highlights of the exhibition. In 676, Silla overcame its rival kingdoms and unified most of the peninsula under its rule. Until its fall in 935, Unified Silla presided over a civilisation of extraordinary confidence and creative vitality. Among the enduring monuments of the period are Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto, both constructed in the mid-8th century. A glimpse of Buddhist art of the period can be seen in a standing Buddha, in the gestures of reassurance and granting wishes (5).

With the establishment of the Goryeo dynasty (918−1392), Buddhism reached the height of its political, religious and cultural influence. The dynasty’s founder, Wang Geon (King Taejo, 877−943, reigned 918−943), believed that his rise to power had been aided by Buddhist forces, and successive rulers continued to promote Buddhism as the ideological foundation of the state. Lavish royal and aristocratic patronage fostered extraordinary achievements in painting, sculpture, metalwork, ceramics and the production of sacred texts, making Goryeo one of the great Buddhist cultures of mediaeval East Asia.

Among the finest expressions of this artistic flourishing are the ritual objects created for Buddhist worship. A bronze bell (6), with its dragon-shaped suspension loop, lotus-bud bosses and relief of a celestial musician, exemplifies the technical sophistication and aesthetic refinement of Goryeo metalwork. Both acoustically engineered and visually magnificent, such bells were struck during ceremonies and at appointed times of day, their resonant sound believed to carry the Buddha’s teachings across great distances and offer salvation to all sentient beings. By contrast, the octagonal gilt-silver reliquary (7) demonstrates remarkable craftsmanship on an intimate scale. Produced to contain sarira, the cremated relics of the Buddha, it takes the form of a pavilion, with finely incised Buddhist deities adorning each of its eight sides.

The exhibition also brings together exceptional examples of Goryeo Buddhist paintings and sutras. Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara (8), depicting the Bodhisattva with countless eyes to perceive suffering and multiple hands to extend compassion, is the only surviving Goryeo painting of this iconography. The Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra (The Perfection of Transcendental Wisdom Sutra) Vol. 249 (9) is part of the First Goryeo Tripitaka produced at state initiative following the Khitan invasions of the 11th century. By contrast, a privately commissioned, hand-copied manuscript of the “Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra” from the Avatam saka Sutra (Flower Garland Sutra) (10), dating to the mid-14th century, offers a deeply personal expression of Buddhist devotion. Its illuminated frontispiece depicts the culmination of Sudhana’s spiritual pilgrimage, in which he meets his final teacher, the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

A rare 13th century sutra box (11) in the British Museum collection is included in the exhibition, illustrating the aesthetic significance assigned to even the containers for sutras. Its lacquered surface is richly embellished with inlaid chrysanthemum and peony scroll designs in mother-of-pearl and delicate metal wire, creating a luminous decorative effect. Such boxes were highly prized. Contemporary records note that the empress of Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271−1368) in China, commissioned them, and in response to that demand, the Goryeo government established a Bureau of Sutra Box Production.

The exhibition also features beautiful examples of celadon-glazed ceramics, perhaps Goryeo’s most celebrated artistic achievement. After celadon technology was introduced from China, Goryeo potters mastered this difficult technique. Further building on that foundation, they developed sanggam inlay decoration, adapting decorative methods from contemporary metalwork and lacquer to ceramic production. The celadon bowl with cloud and crane deco rations (12) exemplifies this achievement. White and black inlay creates elegant motifs that appear to float on the luminous jade-green glaze, while the moulded decoration inside the bowl further demonstrates the artistic sophistication that came to define Goryeo ceramics.

The third section of the exhibition explores the art of the Joseon dynasty (1392−1897), a period when Neo-Confucianism became the ideological foundation of the state, in a philosophical shift that reshaped all aspects of society, including the arts. Court patronage shifted to different types of ceramics: in the 15th and 16th centuries, buncheong ware, a grey-green stoneware with white slip decoration, and ultimately to white porcelain. A buncheong ware epitaph tablet and six vessels (13) embody this new aesthetic and ideology. Made for the tomb of Madame Yi (1365–1448), wife of Yi Sajing, the scholar-official, the epitaph records her family lineage and life, reflecting the growing importance of Neo-Confucian funerary rituals in early Joseon society. The accompanying vessels, produced specifically for burial, are densely stamped with chrysanthemum and geometric motifs and inlaid in white slip. As securely dated examples linked to an individual, the set offers a rare window into both the development of buncheong ware and the ritual practices of early Joseon Neo-Confucian culture.

Several handsome examples of porcelain appear in the exhibition. A set of four porcelain bowls (14), made for the early Joseon court, has inscriptions on their bases with the characters, cheon (天, heaven), ji (地, earth), hyeon (玄, black) and hwang (黃, yellow), the opening words of the Thousand Character Classic. Their delicately potted thin walls and elegant profiles illustrate the technical refinement achieved by the official kilns during the 15th century. By the 18th century, Joseon porcelain had reached a new level of artistic sophistication. Blue and white wares, decorated with cobalt pigment beneath a transparent glaze, combined the technical expertise of potters at the Bunwon kiln with the painterly skills of court artists. An octagonal bottle with a bamboo motif (15) exemplifies this collaboration…

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