A groundbreaking exhibition exploring the Korean Wave phenomenon has redefined how Korean culture is presented to global audiences, drawing diverse crowds from teenagers to elderly art enthusiasts across multiple continents. The 'Hallyu! The Korean Wave' traveling exhibition, which originated at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in 2022, has successfully bridged the gap between traditional Korean heritage and contemporary pop culture, creating an accessible and engaging experience for Western museum visitors.
The exhibition's impact was particularly evident during its run at Museum Rietberg in Zurich, Switzerland, from April to August 2025. On a typical afternoon, the museum buzzed with an eclectic mix of visitors, including elderly subscribers studying exhibition catalogs, costume enthusiasts examining the intricate folds of traditional hanbok, and teenagers wearing K-pop merchandise taking selfies in front of colorful light sticks and idol costumes. Parents could be seen following on-screen dance tutorials for PSY's 'That That' while other visitors paused to read about Korea's rapid modernization.
'We saw this exhibition on Instagram,' said Stray Kids fans Lena, 17, and Winona, 16, from Germany as they explored the galleries. 'We came for the idols, but we learned a lot more about Korea.' This sentiment perfectly captures what the exhibition set out to achieve – using pop culture as a gateway to deeper cultural understanding.
Rosalie Kim, the Victoria and Albert Museum's curator of the Korean collection and lead curator behind 'Hallyu!', explained the motivation behind this revolutionary approach. 'So far, exhibitions about Korea overseas are all about the glorious past – Goryeo, Joseon... But this is something very difficult. It is quite niche and something difficult that the audience finds relatable,' Kim said. She noted that on the other end of the spectrum, contemporary Korean art is often completely globalized and fails to offer deeper insight into Korean society.
The exhibition was specifically designed to bridge this gap through K-pop, K-dramas, beauty trends, digital fandom, and everyday design. 'I think the point of the exhibition was really to make Korea accessible and relatable. This is a question that is constantly on my mind as a curator,' Kim explained. 'We are in a Western imperialistic institution set up in the 19th century and have a tiny collection of Korea compared to that of China or Japan, and it is often an artwork collection rather than a strategic field. So it's very difficult to represent Korea in a Western museum.'
The exhibition's innovative structure maps the rise of Korea's pop culture phenomenon chronologically, beginning with Korea's rapid postwar transformation through archival photographs, posters, and Nam June Paik's video sculptures. It then moves through the explosive rise of K-dramas and Korean film, featuring authentic costumes from the hit series 'Squid Game' and a meticulously recreated set from the Oscar-winning film 'Parasite.'
K-pop and fandom culture take center stage with actual stage outfits worn by popular groups like aespa and ATEEZ, complemented by interactive dance challenges that allow visitors to participate in the Korean Wave experience. The final section spotlights Korea's influential beauty and fashion industries, tracing cosmetics packaging evolution from the 13th century to today and presenting more than 20 looks by contemporary designers from Korea and its diaspora, including pieces worn by celebrities such as RM of BTS.
At Museum Rietberg in Zurich, curator Khanh Trinh emphasized how 'Hallyu!' represented only the second Korea-focused exhibition in the institution's history. 'The first one, Korea – The Ancient Kingdoms, was 25 years ago and it was also a traveling exhibition on only traditional Korean art,' Trinh explained. 'We thought that the concept is quite interesting, because it shows you Korea from a point of view that is more well-known today – at least here in Europe or in Switzerland, people know about Korea through K-dramas on Netflix or K-pop.'
To localize the Zurich presentation, Trinh incorporated uniquely Swiss elements that resonated with local audiences. She reached out to K-pop cover dance teams in Switzerland and included their videos alongside the museum's own playful remake of PSY's 'Gangnam Style' music video, filmed in front of the museum's iconic Emerald pavilion. In the K-drama section, stills from 'Crash Landing on You' were strategically added to attract curious local fans, particularly relevant since many Swiss first encountered Korean culture through this drama's iconic scenes filmed at Swiss locations like Iseltwald, Jungfraujoch, and the Munster Bridge.
The exhibition also spurred significant institutional engagement with Korean art at Rietberg, where Korea has historically been underrepresented in the museum's 32,600-object collection. 'This is the first big acquisition of the museum for Korean art,' Trinh said proudly, referring to an 18th-century moon jar purchased specifically for the exhibition. While the original Victoria and Albert Museum show had included a moon jar on loan from the British Museum, Rietberg acquired its own to better anchor the historical narrative.
The touring success of 'Hallyu!' has had a ripple effect throughout the global museum community. Following its successful debut at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2022, the exhibition traveled to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2024, and Museum Rietberg in Zurich in 2025. The show will make its final stop at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra this December.
Katherine McMahon, director of the National Museum of Australia, expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming presentation: 'We can't wait to welcome Hallyu! The Korean Wave in December, in what will be an Australian exclusive for Canberra and a first for the southern hemisphere. Hallyu! is a big, bright and bold exhibition that channels South Korea's incredible creative energy, which has captured the imagination of fans worldwide.'
Despite numerous additional requests to extend the tour, Kim noted that the exhibition must conclude as artifacts need to return for future projects. 'I have to stop the tour because I needed the objects to come back for another project. We continue to have requests, but we can't do it,' Kim said, hinting at further explorations of Korean culture planned at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition's success has fundamentally changed how museums worldwide approach Korean cultural presentations, proving that pop culture can serve as an effective bridge to deeper cultural understanding and appreciation.
