Korean Gallery: Smithsonian’s Only National Display

The Smithsonian, which is located in Washington, D.C., is famous for being the world’s best and largest collection of museums. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is among the most popular attractions with some 7 million visitors a year. It houses the Korea Gallery, the museum’s only exhibition area dedicated to a single country.
The Korea Gallery can be found in the center of the second floor of the National Museum of Natural History. The gallery includes seven thematic sections related to “Landscapes of Korea,” “Korean Ceramics: A Tradition of Excellence,” “Honoring Family,” “The Korean Wedding,” “Hangeul: Symbol of Pride,” “Korea Beyond Borders,” and “Korean Modern Art.” Consisting of 80 exhibits, along with 200 photos and figures, the Korean Gallery is a treasure trove of educational artifacts and experiences that shed light on the traditions and history of Korea.

Tour of Korea Gallery
The U.S.-Korea Arts Foundation (USKAF) utilizes the Korea Gallery to introduce Korean culture and history to American students and visitors. It serves as an ideal opportunity to inspire pride in second-generation Korean-Americans, who can view the 5,000 years of Korean history and culture, which to many people seems to be hidden behind that of China and Japan. To maintain the Korea Gallery as a high-quality exhibit and to ensure its significance, the USKAF, with the support from the Korea Foundation, has developed a tour program that has been underway since February of this year. This program is currently focused on Korea-related schools as well as U.S. elementary schools in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. areas.

Twenty interns, who had been selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants, are required to complete rigorous training sessions before serving as gallery guides for visitors. Research, presentations, preparations, and a final evaluation by the Education Manager of the Smithsonian Museum enable the interns to learn about Korea’s cultural heritage and develop pride and leadership skills as well.

Learning about Ethnic Groups
On July 15, the Korea Gallery played host to a unique group of visitors from three public elementary schools from the state of Maryland. The group of 125 included principals, summer school teachers, and students. The participating schools included Spark Matsunaga of Germantown, Wayside of Potomac, and Clarksburg of Clarksburg. Thanks to detailed explanations by second-term intern students of the U.S.-Korea Arts Foundation (USKAF), the visitors enjoyed a taste of Korean culture and history, of which they previously had only limited awareness.

Since this group consisted of mainly young students, the interns had to account for their ages and adjust the usual explanations for a better understanding. However, one of the principals commented on how “the interns looked very well-prepared,” while adding that she would love to visit the Korea Gallery again next year. For the Korean-American interns who explained the culture and history of Korea to the young students and got to see them take an interest in Korea, the experience was more meaningful than just another field trip. Through the guided tour, the students not only had a chance to interact with and understand a different culture, but they also left with new knowledge about Korea’s rich history and beautiful culture.

USKAF has also donated 50 Korea Gallery guidebooks, titled “Flagship of a Fleet – A Korea Gallery Guide,” to the three participant schools. The books are maintained at the school libraries and can be used by teachers and students as a useful reference source about Korean history and culture. Along with the more than 2,000 Korea Gallery visitors that have participated in the USKAF’s tour program thus far, we would like to thank the Korea Foundation for helping to make this project so successful with its financial assistance. Currently, USKAF is striving to expand its program scope to include government officials involved with Korea and private schools in the Washington, D.C. area.

Moon Sook President, U.S.-Korea Arts Foundation