100 Lee Kun-hee collection pieces make London debut at British Museum

Korean cultural heritage donated to the state by the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee is making its way to London after a successful run in the United States, bringing the essence of Korea's 5,000-year history to the world stage.

The National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art will open the touring overseas exhibition "Korea: 2,000 Years of Creativity" at the British Museum in London on Thursday.

The touring exhibition draws on "An Invitation from a Collector" (2022), a special exhibition jointly organized by the two institutions to mark the 2021 donation by the late chairman's family. It follows two earlier stops — "Treasures of Korea: Collecting, Cherishing, and Sharing" at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., in November 2025, and "Korean National Treasures: 2,000 Years of Korean Art" at the Art Institute of Chicago in March — and marks the third and final leg of the tour at the British Museum.

The exhibition features 79 items comprising 164 pieces from the National Museum of Korea's collection and 15 items from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Among them are 10 national treasures totaling 27 pieces — including the Bisandong bronzeware from Daegu, making its overseas debut — and 13 treasures comprising 23 pieces, together illuminating Korea's history and culture.

The exhibition is divided into four parts in chronological order. The first covers archaeological artifacts from the early Iron Age through the Unified Silla period, along with metalwork from the Three Kingdoms era. The second introduces Goryeo Buddhist paintings and celadon. The third presents landmark late Joseon paintings, among them Jeong Seon's "Clearing After Rain Over Inwangsan" and Kim Hong-do's "Chusaengbudo." The fourth traces modern and contemporary change through works by Park Soo-keun, Kim Whan-ki, Lee Jung-seob and Jang Wook-jin. Shin Hak-chul's large-scale canvas "Modern Korean History — Synthesis" and Nam June Paik's video sculpture "Brahms" are also on display.

The British Museum has maintained a strong interest in Korean art since a 1984 special exhibition on 5,000 years of Korean art, and from 2000 onward has enlivened its Korea Gallery with loans from the National Museum of Korea's collection. The current exhibition is regarded as a fruit of the Korean government's Korea Gallery support project.

In conjunction with the exhibition, National Museum of Korea Director Yu Hong-jun is scheduled to deliver lectures on Korean culture and art at the University of Cambridge and SOAS University of London.

"The touring overseas exhibition of the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee's donated works, which achieved great success in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, will present a new story of Korea in London with an even richer lineup that includes more national treasures and treasures," Yu said. "We hope that K-culture fans across Britain and Europe will visit London to discover the roots of K-culture, which is enjoying worldwide popularity."