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Symposium: Korea: 2,000 years of creativity

Register for Day 1 (23 Oct)
Register for Day 2 (24 Oct)

Key information

Date
to
Venue
SOAS University of London
Room
Khalili Lecture Theatre (Day 1) and Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre (Day 2)
Event type
Symposium

About this event

Held in conjunction with the British Museum exhibition Korea: 2,000 years of creativity, this two-day international symposium, co-organised by the British Museum and the School of Arts and Centre for Korean Studies at SOAS University of London, brings together leading scholars of Korean art history. 

Following the exhibition’s chronological narrative, each presentation examines one or two key objects on display and explores their wider historical, cultural and social context.

Complementing the exhibition and its accompanying publication, the symposium provides an opportunity for audiences to explore Korea’s cultural history in greater depth and to consider the exhibited objects from a range of scholarly perspectives.

The Keynote Lecture forms part of the Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art Annual Lecture Series.

Jeong Seon (1676–1759), Clearing after rain on Mount Inwang, hanging scroll; ink on paper, Korea, Joseon dynasty, 1751. National Treasure. Photo © National Museum of Korea.

Programme

Day 1: Friday, 23 October 2026

TimeEvent
7:00pm – 8:30pm

Keynote Lecture

 

  • Private Passion, Public Legacy: The Lee Kun-Hee Collection
    Youngna Kim, Professor Emerita, Seoul National University
    Supported by the Percival David Foundation

Day 2: Saturday, 24 October 2026

TimeEvent
9:30am – 10:05am

Welcome

 

  • Treasures from Korea in 1984
    Roderick Whitfield, Percival David Professor of Chinese and East Asian Art, Emeritus, SOAS University of London
     
  • Korea: 2,000 years of creativity
    Sang-ah Kim, Curator of Korean Collection, British Museum
10:05am – 11:05am

Panel 1: Early Iron Age to Unified Silla

 

  • Title: The Emergence of Individuality and the Translation of Power Relations  
    Jongil Kim, Professor, Department of Archaeology and Art History, Seoul National University, and Director, Seoul National University Museum
     
  • Title: Small Images, Larger Questions: Gilt-Bronze Buddhist Sculptures in Context
    Sunkyung Kim, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Department of Liberal Arts, Laguna College of Art + Design

Moderator: Sang-ah Kim, Curator of Korean Collection, British Museum

11:05am – 11:25amBreak
11:25am – 12:40pm

Panel 2: Goryeo

 

  • Title: Margins of Great Compassion: Reading Goryeo’s Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara
    Seunghye Lee, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, University of California, Los Angeles
     
  • Title: Producing the Perfection of Transcendental Wisdom Sutra in the First Goryeo Tripitaka: A Dive into How Things Got Done and Were Made a Thousand Years Ago on the Korean Peninsula
    Remco Breuker, Professor of Korean Studies, Leiden University
     
  • Title: Goryeo Celadon from the Perspective of Material Culture
    Namwon Jang, Professor, Department of Art History, Ewha Womans University

Moderator: Jane Portal, Former Acting Director of Collections, British Museum

12:40pm – 1:40pmLunch
1:40pm – 3:15pm 

Panel 3: Joseon

 

  • Title: Joseon Landscape Painting between Real and Ideal
    Burglind Jungmann, Professor Emerita, University of California, Los Angeles
     
  • Title: The Moon Jar: A Korean Icon
    Charlotte Horlyck, Professor of the History of Korean Art, Department of History of Art and Archaeology, SOAS University of London
     
  • Title: Picturing Possession: Material Culture and Visual Illusion in a Nineteenth-Century Korean Chaekgado
    Jaebin Yoo, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Hongik University
     
  • Title: A Painter’s Pictorial Biography: Chae Yongsin’s Self-Edited Pyeongsaengdo
    Kilhong Min, Curator, National Museum of Korea

Moderator: Anders Karlsson, Senior Lecturer in Korean, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, SOAS University of London

3:15pm – 3:35pm Break
3:35pm – 4:50pm  

Panel 4: Twentieth century

 

  • Title: Utopian Visions and Modernity in Early Modern Korean Art: Focusing on Looking at Mt. Geumgang and Paradise
    Soohyun Mok, Institute of Modern and Contemporary Art affiliated with the Association of Korean Modern & Contemporary Art History
     
  • Title: From Moon to Dots: Kim Whanki and the Making of Modern Korean Painting
    Hyunju Lee, Curator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
     
  • Title: Bodies of History: Shin Hak Chul, Minjung Art, and Picturing Modern Korea
    Sohl Lee, Associate Professor of Art History, Department of Art, State University of New York at Stony Brook

Moderator: Euisol Jeong, Lecturer in Korean Digital Media, School of Arts, SOAS University of London

4:50pm – 5:00pmClosing remarks

Registration

The event is free to attend, but registration is essential. Please follow the links at the top of the page to book your place.

Organisers and sponsors

Co-organised by the British Museum and the School of Arts and Centre for Korean Studies at SOAS, University of London.

Sponsored by the National Museum of Korea.

The Keynote Lecture forms part of the Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art Annual Lecture Series.

Main image: Court painters, Sun, Moon and Five Peaks, six-panel folding screen; ink and colour on paper, Korea, Joseon dynasty, 1800–1900. Photo © National Museum of Korea.

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