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Korea Colloquium
Beth McKillop
Beth McKillop is Deputy Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In 1992 she curated the initial installation of the Samsung Gallery of Korean Art there. Since then, she has maintained an interest in Korean ceramics, decorative arts and book history. Recent publications include an Orientations article (September 2012) marking the anniversary of the Korean gallery's opening; Korea-related contributions to the Oxford Companion to the Book (2010) and an International Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology article, "A royal manuscript of 1809 in the British Library" (2010). She is currently preparing an article about collecting Korean art at the V&A in the second half of the 20th century, which will carry on from Wilkinson's article in Journal of the History of Collections, 15, pp. 241-255.
Chaired by Sun Joo Kim, Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History; Director of Korea Institute
Abstract
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has one of the world's greatest international collections of ceramics. In 2009, the centenary of the top floor galleries' opening, the Museum opened a reworked display of the collection, which includeed over 350 Korean objects ranging from the Three Kingdoms period until now. The lecture reviews the curatorial approach adopted during the five-year project to redisplay the collection, outlining the position of Korean case studies and ceramic types in five separate themed displays. From demonstrations of the technical processes of firing and glazing, to cross-cultural comparison of Korea's ceramic production as part of a striking linear display of world ceramics, the new galleries offer a fresh look at Korea's ceramic tradition. This lecture, which is highly illustrated, is an updated version of a presentation made to the Oriental Ceramics Society of London shortly after the gallery opening.
Co-sponsored by the Modern Asia Series, Harvard University Asia Center
The Korea Colloquium is generously supported by the Min Young-Chul Memorial Fund at the Korea Institute, Harvard University
* Video available for view at: https://vimeo.com/channels/koreainstitute