“What do the latest album from global music sensation BTS and the British Museum's Korea gallery have in common? Rather a lot as it turns out!”—so says the British Museum website. The London institution has teamed up with the mega-popular K-pop band as part of a citywide experience supporting the BTS world tour, entitled Arirang, which hit the UK capital last week.
In a canny marketing move, the British Museum has created a trail around its Korea Foundation Gallery highlighting five key objects selected by the curator Sang-ah Kim that link to Arirang—a Korean folk song symbolising national values and traditions. Pieces featured include a white porcelain moon jar and items from the Silla Kingdom (fascinating fact for BTS fans: one of the tracks on Arirang, No. 29, is the sound of the Bell of King Seongdeok which was made during the Silla era founded in 57BC).
The BTS BM tour is also a clever curtain raiser for a major show opening later this year at the London museum, Korea (1 October-31 January 2027), which presents sculpture, painting and decorative arts pieces from the past 2,000 years.