Today, my mom and I made the perilous trek into the city to visit the hallyu exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. From the official website, “Today, South Korea is a cultural superpower—a global trendsetter producing award-winning films like Parasite, riveting dramas like Squid Game, and chart-topping music by K-pop groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK. But behind the country’s meteoric rise to the world stage—a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave, or hallyu—is the story of remarkable resilience and innovation.”
By this point, my mom has seen countless K-dramas, at such speed the titles of these shows are rarely a factor; it’s just “the next one.” So while we went in feeling like K-experts, it’s always helpful to have the history of a culture so visually arranged.
The first area covers the immediate historical context for the Korean cultural wave which is hallyu, that of the country’s tumultuous 20th century from World War II to the Korean War to the civilian struggle for democracy and breakthroughs in technology.
All the while, K-pop plays overhead in a loop of at least two songs I recognized, Blackpink’s “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” and aespa’s “Next Level.” I heard Karina go “I’m on the next level” many times in this area alone. Why not feature more music? Was it a licensing issue? And come on, aespa? A little too stylistically similar to Blackpink, and if we’re talking about hallyu history, the go-to SM girl group should be obvious.
In fact, I don’t recall any mention of Girls’ Generation, but Red Velvet did get a shout-out:
This is in the next area, kind of a hub with a centerpiece display featuring idol outfits.
When I think of hallyu, my first thought is idols, and I believe K-pop is most responsible for the New Wave. It’s a sensible starting point, anyway, branching off into related categories. First, we went to K-beauty, which had a variety of hanboks on display.
Also important, a discussion of makeup, related to two major trends: influencer culture and the androgyny of male beauty. Positives and negatives, of course, but always compelling — like Guem-ja’s eye shadow:
Park Chan-wook got a lot of love throughout the exhibit. In addition to the film/television section’s recreation of the bathroom in Parasite and displays of Squid Game costumes — Jung Ho-yeon’s #67 tracksuit — special mention is made of Joint Security Area…
…and there’s even a side room playing a loop of the Oldboy hallway fight on a projected screen, Cho Young-wuk “The Old Boy” clashing with “Next Level.”
“Content warning: This projection contains violent imagery and may not be suitable for younger audiences.”
Also, Choi Min-sik’s wig?
One of the readouts noted that it was the success of Jurassic Park that effectively spooked the Korean government into its support for the local film industry. Only five years later, we’d see Shiri, but my question is, where were the movies directly influenced by Jurassic Park? Isn’t that usually how it goes? I guess they were looking at the ticket receipts, not what was on screen.
More from Director Park, the storyboard book for The Handmaiden:
Unfortunately, they didn’t sell this in the gift shop (though they had the Parasite one), but apparently, you can get it with the Blu-Ray Steelbook. Worth looking into…
Of course, hallyu was well established by the time of The Handmaiden. We also have a nice look at one of the key titles in the wave, My Love from the Star:
Apparently, the inclusion of these shoes in My Love from the Star led to their selling out across Asia, Europe, and America. That’s a pretty common story — my favorite is Yoona’s waffle maker — but I was also reminded of the Chow Yun-fat/Alain Delon connection.
And finally, we have the ultimate icon of K-drama, Lee Young-ae in Jewel in the Palace:
I haven’t even seen that show (beyond the first episode many, many years ago), but I was pretty awestruck. Dumbstruck.
There were plenty more pieces on display, including a wall of lightsticks. If you have a chance to make the perilous trek yourself, I think my mom and I would both give it a high recommendation.
With Eyes East 