Neither BTS nor Blackpink need to introduce millions of K-pop fans, but a more complete and aggressive examination of the Korean cultural way is now underway at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
On view through July 28, “Hallyu! The Korean Wave” is the first installment of an exhibition in the US that debuted at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum a few years ago. Pronounced “Hally-u,” the word means “Korean Wave,” a term first used in 1992 when South Korea entered diplomatic relations with China. The “Korean Wave” is a cultural phenomenon that was initially driven by Korean dramas and accelerated the global popularity of K-pop.
More from WWD
Fashion plays a significant role in the 250-piece exhibition, as do music, television, cinema and the beauty industry.
“In a way the American audience needs to be exposed to the fashion vibe, but fashion needs to be an art form. But at the same time, if you look at other media like dramas, television and K-pop, fashion is part of it. It cannot be denied, especially with the K-pop groups with all their performances and music videos. The dresses and what they wear are so important, adding to their identity and the items themselves,” said Christina Yu Yu, Matsutaro Shoriki chair of the MFA, Asian art. “Fashion itself is a recognizable mass form.”
While BTS wears luxury labels such as Jennie Dior and Blackpink ahead of Chanel and Lisa is an ambassador for Celine, the new exhibition highlights some lesser-known labels. K-pop fans will recognize a staple at concerts — light sticks designed to represent different groups’ identities — and the original outfits Aespa and Ateez wore for their “Next Level” and “Fireworks” music videos. There are also dresses worn by generations of K-pop idols, including those made by designer Park Sohee and “Next in Fashion” winner Minju Kim, and large-scale needlework designed by South Korean artist Kyungah Ham and made by anonymous embroiderers. from North Korea.
Other pieces explore the Korean American experience by Boston-based artist Timothy Hyunsoo Lee and Washington, DC-based artist Julia Kwon. A more personal insight is detailed in a video featuring Philadelphia-based Korean mother-daughter team Jeoung and Jessica Kim.
“It’s really a show about a cultural superpower, but it’s also about how connected we all are these days. Some people think it’s just about youth culture but it’s more than that, especially if you think about cinema, ‘Parasite’ and ‘Oldboy,’ and all the Korean TV drama series on Netflix. [including ‘Squid Game],” she said.
PSY’s breakout music video “Gangnam Style” also fueled the movement. Such items not only expose people to Korean and Asian culture, but also often have universal messages, Yu Yu said.
Yu Yu said, “When you think of ‘hallyu’, the image that comes to mind for most people is something very serious, contemporary and youth culture. The show has a modern vibe and a faster paced feel. But in the fashion section, some people have commented on how the pieces are made. It’s a quieter part of the exhibition, partly because it was designed that way.”
Another reason is that the area highlights the transformation of the hanbok form and how it used to be the traditional national dress of Korea, and today fashion designers turn this traditional form into something more radical. Fashion is one of the areas in “Hallyu!” which increases the coexistence of the old and the new, and the fashion on display is a reflection of that. Yu Yu said, “It’s really talking about something that can easily accomplish something else, and how you can combine the old fashion, or even fashionable and exciting.”
Nearly 5,000 people showed up for one of the opening events for “Hallyu!,” which featured K-pop performances by CJ ENM, Yu Yu said. A Korean film festival and a conversation with award-winning author Min Jin Lee are some of the upcoming programs before the exhibition moves to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
To tie in the effect of the Hallyu boom and how everything is happening at the same time, the MFA worked that into the design layout of the exhibition, which is set up so that the visitor chooses which part of the exhibition they like to be explored first — apart from. linear experience. Another point of differentiation from the V&A show – the Boston one draws from the museum’s important collection of Korean art, including traditional hanbok dress.
While the MFA has an ongoing alliance with Uniqlo (having offered UT UT Graphic T-shirts inspired by Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic “ukiyo-e“ woodblock prints, among other artists’ works), he tapped Boston-based streetwear company Endstate to create hoodies, T-shirts and other clothing inspired by Korean objects in the MFA’s collection. Endstate’s designs include NFC chip products – a pair of sneakers, two T-shirts and two sweatshirts. The near-field communication technology offers perks like VIP and early entrance to “Hallyu!” to choose the theme of MFA Late Nites.
MFA museum store shoppers will find hallyu-inspired designs from several other Korean American brands, as well as cool items like the $48 Matcha Boba Milk Tea-shaped handbag. It was intentional to choose community-based resources that give shoppers a sense of discovery, according to Yu Yu. “Also, the names of many of the designers, who appear in the show, are probably not widely known, and they are not known to the American audience. This is a great introduction to the American audience.”
The best of WWD