The release of viral dance hit Gangnam Style in 2012 is considered a key defining moment in the globalisation of Korean pop culture \u2014 the music video for PSY’s song remains one of the most viewed and talked about videos on the internet.<\/p>\n
So, it’s little wonder the first thing you see as you enter a new exhibition celebrating Korean popular culture is the pink suit worn by PSY in the video.<\/p>\n
It’s one of more than 250 items on show as part of the Hallyu exhibition, meaning ‘Korean wave’, which has opened at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The suit worn by PSY in his Gangnam Style music video is on display at the entrance of the exhibition. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
The museum’s director Katherine McMahon said there’s no doubt Korean pop culture has made its mark in Australia.<\/p>\n
“This exhibition is not only incredibly joyful and colourful and a lot of fun,” she said.<\/p>\n
“There is also a serious and deep story here about a country that rose to be a real global cultural superpower.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A statue of Young-hee, or The Doll, from Netflix’s Squid Game is on display outside the museum. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)<\/p>\n
Before visitors even make it inside, the giant doll from Netflix’s hit series Squid Game towers over visitors in the museum’s forecourt.<\/p>\n
There is also the guard and player costumes on display, highlighting the show’s huge following, including as one of the most-watched Netflix original series ever.<\/p>\n
Developed by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the exhibition has been travelling around the world, with Canberra its final stop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Curator Rosalie Kim says it is exciting to bring the exhibition to Australia given its strong Korean-Asian communities. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)<\/p>\n
Curator Rosalie Kim said the exhibition celebrates the creativity, dynamism and global reach of South Korean culture.<\/p>\n
“Korean culture is everywhere,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I think it is an exhibition that really explains how this came to be and why this is happening now.”<\/p>\n
The exhibition invites visitors to test their skills with an interactive K-Pop dance challenge. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)<\/p>\n
More recently, KPop Demon Hunters, with its catchy songs and fun dances, has proved to be a worldwide sensation and is also featured in the exhibition.<\/p>\n
Visitors to the exhibition can channel their inner K-Pop star through an interactive dance challenge.<\/p>\n
Also on display is a recreation of the bathroom from the film Parasite \u2014 the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A recreation of the bathroom from Parasite is on display in the exhibition. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)<\/p>\n
Korean fashion, food, tech and beauty is also explored.<\/p>\n
“Australians have embraced Hallyu with the same curiosity and enthusiasm they have bestowed on other cultures,” Ms McMahonn said.<\/p>\n
“This exhibition reflects the museum’s commitment to present both ancient cultures and stories that reflect the world we live in today.<\/p>\n
“[It’s about] contributing not just to the preservation of history, but also to recording and shaping the histories being made right now.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The exhibition includes South Korean fashions, including contemporary takes on the traditional hanbok. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)<\/p>\n
Ms Kim said it was exciting to bring the exhibition to Australia given its strong Korean-Asian communities.<\/p>\n
“I am really excited that they will be able to see part of their culture represented in Australia,” she said.<\/p>\n
Alongside the exhibition, the museum is also running a ‘season of Korea’ over summer, which includes dance workshops and beauty master classes.<\/p>\n
The exhibition runs until May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The release of viral dance hit Gangnam Style in 2012 is considered a key defining moment in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2666,64,63,2667,2331,134,132385,15940,190471,9975,12440,2289,2668,21815,190470,11255,17165,8080,76396],"class_list":{"0":"post-344158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-act","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-canberra","12":"tag-culture","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-exhibit","15":"tag-exhibition","16":"tag-hallyu","17":"tag-k-pop","18":"tag-korean","19":"tag-local-news","20":"tag-local-stories","21":"tag-museum","22":"tag-national-museum","23":"tag-pop","24":"tag-popular","25":"tag-south","26":"tag-wave"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}