Art and Soft Power in the UK and South Korea - examining the role and impact of Korean artefacts in museum settings

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This project examines the use of artefacts to strengthen interregional relations and enhance awareness of different cultures. Focusing on Korean objects in UK museum collections, it questions how their collecting and display manifest the relationship between the UK and South Korea in past and present times. The project is underpinned by the belief that art can raise awareness of a nation, strengthen intercultural connections, and promote cross-regional interests. Despite this, the role of museum artefacts in diplomatic and political contexts remains under-researched and the project therefore fills an important gap. The project draws on international studies on soft power and nation branding. Soft power may be defined as the ability to achieve objectives through attraction and persuasion, while nation branding refers to the image and reputation of a state. Increasingly, governments have realised that a nation's ability to influence decision making processes and behaviours in the international arena heavily depends on these two factors. Art plays a key role in this as many soft power schemes center on cultural and creative outputs. This is also the case in the UK and South Korea where art objects and their public display have been central to UK-South Korea soft power agendas. This is reflected in the fact that London is the only European capital with two galleries of Korean art, housed in major public institutions, namely the British Museum and the V&A Museum. Both were funded by Korean sponsors with the aim to improve Korea's nation brand. The significance of the project lies in its facilitation of cross-institutional dialogues between UK and Korean stakeholders from academic and cultural institutions who work directly with Korean cultural heritage. The nature of the project necessitates an interdisciplinary approach, and it brings together expertise in the fields of art history, museum management, curating and international studies. This enables us to approach the theme of the project from different methodological, theoretical, and curatorial perspectives. It creates an interpretative platform for asking critical questions, such as: How is the national image of Korea narrated visually through representations of Korean artefacts at the British Museum and the National Museum of Korea? Which concerns underpin exhibition displays of Korean artefacts in the UK and Korea? Which issues drive the display of Korean objects at university museums, such as Ewha Womans University Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge? How can UK museums learn from South Korean curatorial practices and vice versa?The project centers on a range of activities held in the UK and South Korea, aimed at establishing interdisciplinary dialogues, and cross-regional networks. Spanning conferences, fieldtrips, site visits, roundtable discussions, published outcomes and an online platform, the project will produce a range of short, mid, and long-term outputs aimed at academic beneficiaries and the wider public. The project will strengthen relations between UK and South Korean museums and enhance mutual understanding of key issues and challenges. It will positively influence the next generation of academic and museum professionals, further their knowledge and expand their networks. The project will enable us to develop a larger collaborative scheme that will contribute to broader discussions of art diplomacy and nation branding in the UK and South Korea, incorporating a wider set of case studies.