hankyoreh

National Museum of Korea

The sudden removal of Kim Young-na as National Museum of Korea (NMK) director earlier this month has become a hot topic in South Korea’s cultural community. In a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh, Kim said she was convinced the reason was her opposition to a feature exhibition on French decorative art that President Park Geun-hye had shown an interest in. Many readers have expressed curiosity about the details behind the exhibition’s original plan and cancellation. Here I’ll share some more of the specifics.

According to the museum, the exhibition was first discussed after France proposed it in Jan. 2014 as a representative event to honor the 130th anniversary of South Korean-French relations. It was jointly organized by the Louvre Museum’s Museum of Decorative Arts and the Comite Colbert, a kind of cooperative formed by 53 French luxury brands to promote their wares. It was designed chiefly to show the history of French decorative fashions and arts from the Renaissance era to the modern day, including luxury products old and new. From the beginning, Kim and the other South Korean officials worried local audiences might object to the display of so many products by French luxury brands in the museum. The Museum of Decorative Arts seemed to understand the concerns, but as discussions wore on, the Comite Colbert and its businesses began openly trying to push the exhibition more in the direction of outright promotion for currently marketed items. This was the source of the conflict: the brands that were part of the Comite were reportedly aiming to include two items each from recent years and 20 to 30 years ago in their old decoration collections.

As an alternative, Kim proposed having the current products displayed together in a separate venue on the museum’s first floor. The idea was turned down. As the preparations became more and more hesitant, the companies reportedly made a request late last year through the local French ambassador asking the Blue House senior education and culture secretary’s office to elicit the museum’s active cooperation. At that point, Kim came under enormous pressure that lasted until early February. She found herself being summoned to the Blue House and pressed by the First Vice Minister of Culture. The Blue House claimed that Park only developed an interest after the exhibition fell through - an idea sources familiar with the museum’s situation called “nonsensical.” According to those observers, it made no sense that the president would not have received prior reports on a hugely symbolic and unprecedented exhibition that was supposed to represent the face of commemorative events for the South Korean-French diplomatic relations, involved historic items of decorative French art being brought into South Korea, and was receiving millions of dollars in support from French brands.

Under pressure from the Blue House and Culture Ministry, Kim finally agreed in early February to exhibition plans that would mix current products in with the older ones. At that point, the Comite Colbert unilaterally called the plan off in mid-February, saying things had taken too long. According to inside sources, an enraged Blue House put the blame at the feet of Kim and First Vice Minister of Culture Park Min-kwon.

It’s hard to find precedents either here or overseas of a government intervening in exhibition discussions between museums and pressuring to have a particular exhibition staged - or of removing the officials who failed to make it happen. The French companies hurt their own country‘s prestige by trying to enlist the Blue House’s cooperation. Shortly after the Hankyoreh report, the NMK announced on Mar. 25 that it was planning a substitute exhibition next year on older decorative items with France‘s Museum of Decorative Arts. The 130th anniversary commemorative events continue only through this year. With the timing so far off, it’s hard to shake the sense the plan was belatedly slapped together to diffuse the controversy sparked by Kim‘s replacement as NMK director.

By Noh Hyung-seok, staff reporter

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