Ministry Announces Major Gift to Support Korean Art Initiatives at the Museum
(New York, November 18, 2019)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea signed an agreement today at the Museum, strengthening a long-term relationship of cooperation in the area of Korean art and culture. The agreement was signed on behalf of The Met by Daniel H. Weiss, President and Chief Executive Officer, and on behalf of the Ministry by Yun Jeung Jo, Executive Director of the Korean Cultural Center New York (KCCNY).
On this occasion, the Ministry further announced a gift of approximately $800,000 to The Met to support the Museum’s Korean Gallery and Korea-related programs over a three-year period, 2019–2022. The Met also intends to collaborate with Korean museums, including the National Museum of Korea, on projects funded by this gift. This announcement follows an initial gift awarded to The Met by the Korean Ministry in 2015 that was also accompanied by an agreement (more information on the 2015 gift is available here).
Mr. Weiss commented: “With this gift and newly signed agreement, The Met will be able to expand our program of exhibitions, gallery displays, and publications featuring the arts of Korea and undertake new research. We are tremendously grateful to the Ministry for its continuing support.”
Mr. Jo said: “It is our great pleasure to extend our support of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, especially in this meaningful time when Korean culture is all the more gaining in global recognition. We look forward to how The Met will continue to expand as a major platform for Korean art. I can say with certainty that this partnership with the Korean Ministry and the Museum will lead to synergistic growth far into the future.”
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Image: Daniel H. Weiss (left) and Yun Jeung Jo at the signing.
Contact:
Naomi Takafuchi/Ann Bailis, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
communications@metmuseum.org or 212-570-3951
Mickey Hyun, Korean Cultural Service New York
mickeyhyun@koreanculture.org or 212-759-9550
Korean Art at The Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened its Arts of Korea Gallery in 1998 with generous support from the Korea Foundation and the Samsung Foundation of Culture. The gallery was designed by architect Kyu Sung Woo. Highlights of the Museum’s Korean art collection are celadon ceramics and Buddhist paintings of the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and porcelain and lacquer of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). Along with changing displays of works of art from the collection, the Museum periodically presents thematic exhibitions featuring loans from collections in the United States and abroad, providing an overview of Korea’s artistic and cultural heritage.
Critically acclaimed and popular special exhibitions of Korean art at The Met in recent years include Art of the Korean Renaissance, 1400–1600 (2009); Poetry in Clay: Korean Buncheong Ceramics from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art (2011); Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom (2013–14), which featured over two dozen National Treasures, notably the celebrated and sublime Pensive Bodhisattva (National Treasure 83); and Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia in Korean Art (2018).
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