5,000 years of Korean art: Exhibitions abroad as cultural diplomacy

Abstract

This article examines the deployment of the travelling loan exhibition, 5,000 Years of Korean Art, as an exercise in cultural diplomacy during the era of international blockbuster exhibitions and its subsequent function in the construction of a master narrative of Korean art. Sent abroad during a period of intense domestic political upheaval, the exhibition emerged from a specific political and cultural moment and demonstrated the organizers' intentions in fostering cross-cultural understanding during the Cold War era. The aim here is to explicate the exhibition's parameters through installation views and catalogues and to assess its reception in order to examine the role of the exhibition in the modern canon-making process of Korean art history.