British Museum opens Korea exhibition on 1 October
Published on 10/04/2026 at 07:17 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
The British Museum opened Korea in London on 1 October 2026, presenting a major survey of Korean visual and material culture. The museum, whose English name is also used locally, is showing the exhibition until 31 January 2027.
Korea exhibition opens at the British Museum on 1 October
Korea brings together works spanning more than 2,000 years, from objects dating to around 300 BC through to contemporary art. The exhibition is presented at the British Museum as a chronological account of Korean creativity, with sculpture, painting, ceramics and textiles among its themes.
The show draws almost exclusively from a collection of 23,000 objects bequeathed in 2021 to the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. The London presentation is organised with those institutions and marks the first major special presentation of Korean art at the museum in more than 40 years. The museum programme lists Korea from 1 October 2026 to 31 January 2027.
British Museum galleries connect Korean history and the present
Visitors will encounter ancient gold body ornaments, Buddhist icons and 12th- and 13th-century celadon-glazed stoneware alongside ink landscapes and contemporary works responding to the turbulence of the twentieth century. The exhibition therefore places objects associated with royal tombs and Buddhist temples beside later artistic responses to social change.
The Art Fund describes the presentation as the most comprehensive chronological survey of Korean visual and material culture seen in Europe for more than 40 years. Its Korea exhibition listing identifies the venue as the British Museum in London and records the full run. The opening date links the new display to a museum founded in the eighteenth century while its subject reaches back more than two millennia.
The institution was created by an Act of Parliament in 1753 and opened its doors to the public in 1759. Its collections first occupied Montagu House before the present Greek Revival building by Sir Robert Smirke replaced it in the nineteenth century. The museum says its holdings now contain about eight million objects covering two million years of human history, a scale that gives the Korea exhibition a broad setting for connecting individual works with longer histories.
Visiting British Museum: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Korea runs at the British Museum in London from 1 October 2026 to 31 January 2027.
- The exhibition is part of the museum programme at the Great Russell Street site; the operator lists the museum as open to visitors and presents Korea as a bookable special exhibition.
- The venue is the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG.
- The exhibition includes ceramics, sculpture, painting and textiles, so the visit covers objects made for settings ranging from royal tombs and Buddhist temples to contemporary artistic practice.
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Frequently asked questions about British Museum
When does Korea take place at the British Museum?
Korea runs from 1 October 2026 to 31 January 2027 at the British Museum in London.
What is the Korea exhibition at the British Museum?
It is a survey of Korean visual and material culture covering more than 2,000 years, with historical and contemporary works.
Where is the British Museum and how do you get there?
The museum is on Great Russell Street in London, at postcode WC1B 3DG.
