Korea

Korea is on at the British Museum from 1 October 2026 to 31 January 2027, in Room 35, the Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery. It's the first major exhibition on Korean art and history at the museum in over 40 years, and it covers 2,000 years in one go, from early Iron Age objects and Buddhist sculpture through to Joseon painting and contemporary work. The museum describes it as the most comprehensive chronological survey of Korean visual and material culture seen in Europe in that time.

Almost everything here comes from the 23,000 works bequeathed in 2021 by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee to the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Many of these pieces have never been shown in the UK before. The exhibition is organised with those two museums and supported by Samsung, and it sits alongside the British Museum's own permanent Korea Gallery in Room 67, so you can see the temporary show and the permanent collection in the same visit.

There's a wide range on display. Early on, you'll find a Three Kingdoms stoneware pedestal stand from the 4th or 5th century and the gilt-bronze Bodhisattva Triad with a Single Halo from the 6th century, which is a National Treasure. Moving forward, there's a Goryeo celadon ewer from the 13th century and the indigo-dyed Flower Garland Sutra chapter 'The Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra' from the 14th century, another National Treasure. Later periods are represented by Jeong Seon's Clearing after rain on Mount Inwang from 1751, and contemporary work by Nam June Paik and a 2019 self-portrait by Do Ho Suh. An audio tour is narrated by actors Lee Byung-hun and Yerin Ha.

Tickets are from £18 for adults, and members and under-16s go in for free. The exhibition is open daily 10.00-17.00, with late opening until 20.30 on Fridays, though it's closed on 1 and 2 December 2026. A companion book, Korea, edited by Sang-ah Kim and published by the British Museum Press in October 2026, is available in hardback for £40.