Samsung and the Smithsonian have partnered on a new exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art called Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared. This exhibition honors the practice of collecting and preserving memories through a selection of masterpieces donated to the Korean nation by the family of Lee Kun-Hee, the late chairman of Samsung Group.
Samsung and Smithsonian Art Partnership
The works date from ancient times to the present and, though they were once a private collection, they’re now available to be viewed by the public.
The objects in the collection were originally created for a range of settings, including royal palaces, Buddhist temples, Confucian academies, scholars’ studios, and modern art spaces. Compiled into a collection, the objects tell a tale of Korean innovation and reveal cultural and technological shifts over time.
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The voices of historical figures who either made, used, or collected paintings and objects are amplified in the exhibit through letters, inscriptions, and dedications. These texts offer insights into the meanings that the objects held historically and individually.
After its debut in Washington, DC, the exhibition will travel to Chicago and London. Each exhibition will be individually curated to highlight certain sections from the Lee Kun-Hee Collection.
Drawn from the National Bequest of Lee Kun-Hee’s Collection, the exhibition was organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of Korea, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.
In addition to the exhibition itself, Samsung and the National Museum of Korea have also announced that they’ve made 20 carefully section works from the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee’s renowned art collection available on the Samsung Art Store. The high-resolution 4K digital versions will make these pieces more accessible and thereby appreciated by users worldwide.
“Even if collecting and preserving cultural heritage requires tremendous cost and time, I believe it is our duty to safeguard the future of our culture,” the late Chairman Lee once stated.
