LONDON — The "Lee Kun-hee Collection," built by the late Samsung senior chairman Lee Kun-hee and now showcasing Korean cultural heritage to the world, has opened at the British Museum in London. It is the first large-scale exhibition of Korean art at the museum in 42 years, spanning works from the early Iron Age to the modern era, including national treasures and major paintings that trace the past and present of Korean culture.
Samsung said on Oct. 1 that it hosted a gala dinner at the British Museum on Sept. 30 local time to mark the opening of the special exhibition "Korea: 2,000 Years of Creativity."
"For generations, our family has held to the principle that art and culture should be preserved and shared," Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) Chairman Jay Y. Lee said at the opening event. "I hope this exhibition becomes an occasion to understand 2,000 years of Korean creativity and cultural heritage."
Attendees included Lee, Leeum Museum of Art Honorary Director Hong Ra-hee, Hotel Shilla (008770.KS) President Lee Boo-jin and Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun. Princess Anne of the British royal family attended a reception held before the gala dinner to congratulate the organizers on the opening.
Guests from British politics included Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan, former Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, former Trade Secretary Greg Hands, former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, U.K. Trade Envoy to South Korea John Slinger, Liberal Democrat leader and Korea-U.K. Parliamentary Friendship Association Chair Ed Davey, and association Vice Chair Ben Spencer.
Lee described the family's philosophy of preserving and sharing cultural heritage, passed down from Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull to his father, the senior chairman.
"The founding chairman began collecting art out of a conviction that cultural heritage must be nurtured and handed down to later generations, and the senior chairman carried that on, collecting works throughout his life not to own them but to preserve them," Lee said. He added that his mother, Honorary Director Hong, "has devoted herself to expanding and developing the collection, embracing both ancient and contemporary works."
George Osborne, chair of the British Museum's board of trustees, said in congratulatory remarks that "the dedication of the late senior chairman Lee Kun-hee and his family to the shared cultural heritage of humanity helps us greatly in understanding the past, and will serve as a compass for looking toward the future."
Lee also personally conveyed his respects to three Korean War veterans attending the gala dinner, including Mike Lowe. He expressed gratitude to Princess Anne, who visited the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan in July to honor the sacrifices of Korean War veterans.
The event, organized to promote Korean cultural heritage, also served as a venue for private diplomacy, allowing Samsung to engage senior executives from global companies and institutions and broaden points of business cooperation. Attendees included ASML Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet, Merck CEO Kai Beckmann and ZEISS CEO Andreas Pecher, all heads of companies that work with Samsung Electronics in semiconductors.
The exhibition was jointly organized by the National Museum of Korea, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the British Museum. It is the first large-scale special exhibition of Korean art at the British Museum in about 42 years, since 1984.
A total of 164 pieces across 79 items from the National Museum of Korea and 15 items from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art are on display. To illuminate Korean history and culture broadly, the show also features 27 pieces across 10 National Treasures, including the Bisan-dong bronze artifacts from Daegu, and 23 pieces across 13 Treasures.
Part 1, "Wealth and Power," surveys the formation and development of political power in Korea's ancient states through relics and Buddhist art from the early Iron Age to the Unified Silla period. Part 2, "Wisdom and Beauty," presents the technical skill and refined aesthetics found in Goryeo-era Buddhist paintings and illuminated sutras, celadon and metalwork.
Part 3, "Learning and Pleasure," examines the scholarship, self-cultivation and values of Joseon-era Confucian scholars and offers a space to appreciate the beauty of late Joseon painting. The final section, Part 4, "Individuality and Community," uses works by Park Soo-keun, Kim Whanki, Lee Jung-seob and Chang Ucchin held by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the British Museum to shed light on individuals and communities living through upheaval from the Korean Empire period to the present.
Samsung said it "plans to continue a range of activities that convey the value and standing of Korean culture to the world, while also steadily expanding its global network for future business growth."
The overseas tour of the Lee Kun-hee Collection has already drawn strong interest in the United States. The first overseas leg, which began in Washington, D.C., in November last year, drew about 80,000 visitors, the highest attendance for any special exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in the past decade. The Chicago showing, which ran from March to July this year, drew about 115,000 visitors, more than 40% more than in Washington.
