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In the heart of the city of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is Canada’s
preeminent museum, and one of the largest encyclopaedic museums of art, culture, and
nature in the World. Opened to the public in 1914, the ROM has celebrated over one
hundred years of collecting in Canada. Dr. Charles T. Currelly, the rst Director of the Royal
Ontario Museum from 1914 to 1946, set out to ensure that “the collection and exhibition of
objects of all kinds calculated to illustrate the natural history of the world and the history
of man in all ages.” Today, the museum is transforming itself to become an important
destination—a way of making sense of our natural and cultural world. e ROM is a place
to appreciate accessibility and enjoy new ways of learning within a museum environment.
The ROM strives to inspire its visitors, create a sense of wonder for students, fun for
children, and become a community-builder for thriving multi-cultural groups including the
ever-growing Korean community in Canada.
e ROM houses a collection of over 12 million natural specimens and world arts and
is one of the largest collections in the World. With 40 galleries and annual special major
traveling exhibitions, the ROM receives on average over one million visitors per year. e
East Asian collection has over 60,000 objects, and the Korean collection consists of around
1,300 artefacts. However, the Korean collection remains entirely unknown to scholarly
circles as well as to the general public due to our lack of research capacities. e highlights
of the Korean collection, about 200 objects, are displayed in the permanent Gallery of
Korea, the only gallery that is dedicated to the arts of Korea in Canada.
Korean Collection at the ROM
e ROM’s Korean collection includes archaeological materials, antiquities, and works of
arts that originated within the historical boundaries of Korean civilizations. Totalling over
1,300 objects in quantity, the collection is one of the largest of its kind in North America.
Featuring a range of works from ceramics and stoneware to printing, metalwork and
technology, the collection chronicles the history of Korea and is the only permanent gallery
of Korean art and culture in Canada. Korean ceramics are the greatest strength of the
collection, while other media of works have their unique presence such as works on paper,
textiles and costumes. Wood and lacquer works from the 19th century are also substantial
in both quality and quantity. e ROM’s collection of paintings by the 19th-century Korean
artist Gisan are uniquely large-sized and rened, and not found elsewhere in the World.
The history of the ROM’s Korean collection spans more than one hundred years in
Toronto. One of the first Korean works of art that came into the collection was a large
13th century inlaid celadon jar, which was purchased in 1910 (Fig. 1), four years before
the museum opened its door to the public. e rst Korean artefacts in the early years of
the museum were purchased from a London East Asian dealer, S.M. Franck & Co., (active
1908–1920), where the ROM acquired many major objects of Chinese and Japanese arts at
the same time. e funds for these acquisitions were generously given by museum donors
like Sir Edmund Walker (the ROM’s rst Chairman of Trustees) and Mrs. H. D. Warren.
In the late 1800s and the early decades of the 20th century Canadian missionaries in Korea
collected Korean art and archaeological material which were brought back to Canada;
the rst objects from missionary sources to be added to the gradually increasing Korean
holdings were a group of ree Kingdoms period (traditionally 57 BCE–668 CE) ceramics
donated in 1917 by Margaret MacLean (Fig. 2). Margaret MacLean had joined the Red
Cross’ Foreign Ladies Volunteer Nurses Association travelling around Japan, China and
Korea from 1904 to 1909. MacLean was also one of the ROM’s rst guides to the collections
from 1914 to 1933.
Fewer than 400 objects (to a lesser extent one-third of the collection) was acquired
before the 1960s, mostly from families of descendants of Canadian missionaries who served
in Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Major donors include Leith Macdonald
(Neolithic and Bronze Age objects and Joseon and early modern metalworks and paintings),
Norah Harris (ceramics from all periods), and George Gale (Joseon paintings, wood and
lacquer objects). Mr. George Gale donated numerous objects collected by his father, the
Reverend James S. Gale, a missionary resident in Korea from 1888 to 1927 and a pioneer in
the study by Westerners of Korean language and culture. Some Korean objects also came
from the Dr. Herman Levy Collection, who bequeathed Korean ceramics from his collection
and le a generous bequest that helped the ROM purchase more Korean artefacts.
The government of the Republic of Korea gave a large group of objects which were
rst displayed in the ROM’s very successful travelling exhibition entitled Korea: Land of the
Morning Calm, to celebrate the Seoul Olympics and the Calgary Winter Olympics, both
held in 1988. Several renowned artists from Korea have made generous donations over the
years including our most recent acquisition from JiHoon Kim, who is the son of Korean
potter Woo Nam Kim Kyung-sik, and the grandson of Baeksan Kim Jung-Ok, a porcelain
master and Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 105. e ROM now holds ceramic
pieces from these three generation of potters.
Prior to the 1980s there was no significant attempts to build up the ROM’s Korean
collection, or to even study or display the many objects currently in the museum since the
1900s. e ROM is grateful to the Korean-Canadian community, who have also made great
contributions towards building the ROM’s Korean collection. e Canadian Association for
the Recognition and Appreciation of Korean Art (CARAKA) has played a signicant role
in lling in some of the gaps in our collection, especially for the opening of the rst Korea
Gallery in 1999. e Korean Government has also donated a signicant number of early
modern objects; because of these eorts, the ROM also possesses Korean arts of modern
ceramics, paintings, and calligraphy donated by the artists themselves.
e ROM’s Korean collection is generally categorized based on eight historical periods
(See Table 1): Neolithic, Bronze Age, Three Kingdoms (57 BCE–668 CE), Unified Silla
(668–935), Goryeo (918–1392), Joseon (1392–1910), Japanese Occupation (1910–1945),
Fig 1 Celadon jar, wheel-thrown stoneware
with inlaid designs under celadon glaze, Goryeo
Dynasty, Late 13th century to early 14th century
AD, 26.4×10×18.8×12.4 cm, 910.40.5. Gift of Sir
Edmund Walker.
Fig. 2 Pedestalled shallow bowl, Wheel-
thrown, knife-finished earthenware, Three
Kingdoms Period, Early 6th century, 8.95
×
9.55
×
5.5 cm 917.13.9. Gift of Margaret MacLean.
Building the Royal Ontario Museum’s
Korean Collection
Dr. Chen Shen | Vice President, Senior Curator of Chinese Art and Cultures, ROM
1918
group of shamanist paintings collected by Rev. Gale, including portraits of Guan-wu, Jade
Emperor, Dragon deity and Byeolseong deity (999.33.18; 999.33.17; 999.33.16; 999.15).
e most elaborate in the group is the painting God and Goddess of Smallpox (Byeolsang
Bubu, Fig. 5). e two deities were believed to cause smallpox and were worshipped to give
protection from the disease. e god of smallpox is depicted as a military general equipped
with arrows, a sword and a whip. e brilliant palette and the style of the painting conveys
some resemblance to Buddhist works. is painting displays exceptional skill and detailed
rendering. e use of gold leaf applied to accentuate the grandeur of the deities denotes the
widespread patronage of shamanism especially in the later years of the dynasty (Han 2006).
The ROM’s collection also includes an important album that comprises letters by
renowned 17th-century civil ocials from the Joseon dynasty. Many of these were collected
by O Duin (1624–1689), whose son was married to the third daughter of King Hyunjong (r.
1659–1674). Presently, we are in the process of being gied twelve loose leaves letters that
have been on loan to the ROM since 1997 from Mr. Soin Park, featuring the calligraphy of
some key intellectuals and political leaders of the Joseon period. ese are very important
objects both for historical and artistic reasons, which deserve to be studied and displayed.
The ROM also has, for example, a hanging scroll of a lyrical poem Hansan Island by
Admiral Yi Sunsin (1545–1598) in Kungch’e (semi-cursive court calligraphic style). Among
the Japanese Occupation period are works on paper by Elizabeth Keith (1887–1956),
a Scottish artist who learned Japanese woodblock printing in Japan. Her works depict
scenes from daily life in East Asia in the 1910s and 1920s. Fine examples of calligraphy in
correspondence and screens are also an important part of the collection, including a letter
(994.109.1, pl. 166) written in 1661 by one of the most inuential Confucian scholars and
politicians of the Joseon dynasty, Song Siyeol (1607–1689).
Although Buddhist works of art are less represented in the collection, the most
spectacular piece is a Buddhist reliquary
(Fig. 6)
. Made of gilt-bronze sheets, the sarira
(relic) casket is shaped like a pavilion on a platform with openwork decoration on four
sides. Each side has a large geometric opening, framing the Buddha seated on a double lotus
ower. When the roof is opened, a tiny gilt-bronze container is revealed. It has the shape
of a stupa—a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine—and must have housed a ask with the sarira
inside.
e gilt-bronze standing Buddha (Fig. 7) is another highlight of the Korean Gallery.
It was the first object acquired with funds from the 1998 Louise Hawley Stone generous
bequest to the ROM. This Buddha’s shaved head is topped with an usnisa, or rounded
protrusion, symbolizing his supreme wisdom. e Buddha is missing its mandorla, or large
halo, that originally backed the sculpture.
Other works of art in a variety of media and materials are also presented. ere are
46 metalworks, but more than half of them are Korea coins. Also included in metalworks
are Joseon armours and helmets. Wood and lacquer objects from the Joseon period are also
well presented among the total of 121 objects of all periods in the collection. Finally, there
are some 147 Korean textiles and costumes that are currently housed and conserved in the
ROM’s textile department.
Korean Galleries and Exhibitions
By the 1980s, the ROM’s Korean collection reached over 1000 objects, but few of them are
showcased in the ROM’s permanent galleries. With support from active Toronto Korean
and Modern Korea (1945–present). Out of 1302 objects in the ROM’s database records, the
predominance by period belongs to the Joseon dynasty (37.4%), followed by Modern Korea
arts (20.5%). Another signicant portion of our Korean collection is its quantity and quality
of works from Goryeo (10.6%) and Bronze Age (11.8%).
Table 1. ROM’s Korean Collection by Periods
Catagory Number of objects (%)
Neolithic 14 1.1
Bronze Age 154 11.8
ree Kingdom 40 3.1
Unied Silla 29 2.2
Goryeo 138 10.6
Joseon 487 37.4
Japanese Occupation 139 10.7
Modern Korea 267 20.5
unidentied 34 2.6
Tot a l 1,302 100.0
The ROM’s collection is represented by a comprehensive collection of Korean ceramics
accounting for more than 400 objects, some of which are rare outside the nation. As we
know, the ROM’s richest Joseon collection illustrates one of the main characteristics of
the dynasty’s ceramic products containing designs from the natural and simple to the
extravagant, which is best seen in Buncheong ware. Generally called Kyeryong-san ware
after the area in South Chungchong Province where the Hakpongli kilns which fired
painted punch’ong (buncheong) ware was located. However, when the stamped and inlaid
buncheong decorative technique began to decline in the late 15th century, distinct regional
styles developed in various parts of the country. One particular style relied on painting in
iron oxide as seen in this jar in Fig. 3. Slip was applied over the surface with a broad, coarse
brush, providing a ground for swily rendered brushwork in iron-rich brown pigment.
The museum possesses some excellent Korean celadon works from the 12th–13th
centuries, which includes bowls and jars with incised, carved, moulded and inlaid designs
of various motifs. One outstanding example from the ROM’s ceramic collection is a
beautiful lobed cup and stand (Fig. 4) with chrysanthemum design that shows the creative
and elegant amalgamation of form and decoration. e piece was probably used to serve
ritual tea in a Goryeo Buddhist monastery. In other forms of ceramic art, the ROM holds
a set of porcelain funerary tablets dated to 1770 (2005.13.1.1-6). The six white porcelain
plaques were inscribed in Chinese Standard script (kaishu) in blue-and-white underglaze.
e written epitaph suggests that it belong to a scholar ocial, Yi Sim-won, as the set was
found in his grave. e ROM also owns a stone statue of a civil ocial tomb guardian from
the Joseon period (2004.29.1, pl. 240). Introduced from China along with Confucianism,
the custom of placing civil and military ocial and animal stone statues around the tomb
began during Unied Silla but became widespread in the Joseon dynasty. Both the funerary
tablets and the tomb guardian show the strong Confucian inuence in Joseon burial culture.
e ROM has 117 works on paper, including 79 paintings and calligraphy. Paintings
from Joseon include some excellent examples of folk, genre, and shamanist paintings.
Genre paintings, which include the Gisan Collection, demonstrate different styles and
forms, and have great ethnographical value. The Joseon dynasty collection includes a
Fig. 5 Painting of God and Goddess of
Smallpox, Joseon Dynasty, 999.33.19. Donated
by George J. M. Gale in memory of his father,
the Reverend James S. Gale, Presbyterian
Missionary in Korea 1886–1927.
Fig. 3 Buncheong ware jar with floral design.
Probably Hakpong-ri, Chungchong-nam-do,
Wheel-thrown, slipped stoneware with iron-
brown paint and glaze, Joseon Dynasty, Late
15th to early 16th Century, Height of jar 11.4
cm, 978.29.4. Gift of Mrs. George G.R. Harris.
Fig. 4 Flower-shaped cup and stand with
inlaid chrysanthemum design. Wheel-thrown
stoneware with inlaid design under celadon
glaze, Goryeo Dynasty, 13th century AD, Height
of cup with stand 13.3 cm, 924.30.1.A&B,
Purchased from Yamanaka & Co. Inc.
Fig. 6 Reliquary case with cover and sleeve,
Bronze, copper and brass, Unknown, 15.5x11.1x11.1
cm, 992.124.1.1–5 Purchased from the Dr. Herman
Herzog Levy Bequest Fund in 1992.
Fig. 7 Figure of Buddha, Gilded cast bronze,
Unknown, 21.6x8 cm 998.83.1. Purchased with
the generous support of the Louise Hawley
Stone Charitable Trust.
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Challenges and Engagement
e city of Toronto boasts the largest Korean community in Canada, and the ROM houses
the largest collection of Korean art in North America covering an expanse in history that
highlights some of the most important cultural achievements of Korean civilization. e
ROM provides an opportunity for engagement with Korean communities – to assist in
understanding cultural diversity and Korean-Canadian identities. The museum is also
able to serve as a safeguard for Korean cultural heritage. The ROM in the next century
will become the essential destination for Canadians and Koreans in Canada who want to
have up-close and personal experiences engaging, learning and appreciating their history,
culture, and art of Korea.
However, to accomplish this goal, the ROM has much work to do as the collection and
further research on Korean art are far from ideal. Our primary challenge is that the museum
lacks a Korean art specialist for its Korean collection. A position for a Curator of Korean
Art has been proposed for many years, but with current financial situations, generally
paralleling with overall situations in North American museums, have prevented the ROM
from hiring a Korean art historian. e museum must work with Korean communities to
try and obtain a private endowment for a curatorship position. Without this position, the
ROM’s rich collection of Korean art will be under studied, leading to a less valued place
in the collection and a reduced amount of exposure within these communities. Program
activities eventually are decreased making their eectiveness secondary and less engaging (C.
Shen, 2014).
e collection, although comprehensive as aforementioned, also needs considerable
improvements to ll in some of the gaps in its categories of arts to become a high-quality
presence within the artistic and academic world. Over the years, the acquisitions have
greatly enhanced the quality of the collection in areas like ceramic and Buddhist art, but the
collection needs to be expanded in both quality and quantity.
For example, all objects counting for 169 in total from Neolithic and Bronze Age are
stone tools. Other media of materials from these periods, especially bronze or metal objects
and ceramics, need to be acquired to make the collection more viable, and to paint a more
comprehensive picture of the lives in Early Korea. The current collection can be further
enhanced by adding more metal objects (bronze, gold, silver) from the ree Kingdoms,
Unied Silla, and Goryeo, as well as decorative arts. Paintings from early periods (Goryeo
and Early to Mid-Joseon) are needed to make the collection inclusive.
Our next challenge is the presentation and display of the collection. Due to the
limitation of space and especially the lack of expertise, the Korea gallery rotations are
restricted to a few paintings and screens every 6 months to a year. Many objects from our
collection have not yet been on display since they arrived in Toronto. For example, the four
story-rich woodblock prints by Elizabeth Keith (Fig. 10) are not on display. Most of the
tools and daily objects from the Japanese occupation and modern Korea periods (brass and
wood) are currently not on display in the gallery, but a few were showcased in the previous
Korea Gallery. However, recently we had the opportunity to display some metal works for
a rotation in the gallery from the Joseon period including armour and helmets, which have
never been on display before.
Finally, one of the ROM’s biggest challenges is the care of its Korean collection and
the conservation of our Korean paintings. Many Shamanist and some folk paintings are in
serious need of conservation work. Overall, more research on the Joseon dynasty paintings
communities such as the Canadian Association for Recognition and Appreciation of Korean
Arts (CARAKA) as well as funds from the Korean Foundation, the ROM ocially launched
the opening of a permanent Korean Gallery in the 1990s. Aer four years of preparation,
the ROM’s Gallery of Korea Art opened to the public on September 11, 1999. It was the rst
and the only gallery in a Canadian museum dedicated specically to the arts of Korea.
ROM’s rst Gallery of Korean Art consists of 21 display cases, featuring 379 objects
illustrating a broader Korean history starting from the Stone Age. The more than 2300
square feet (about 250 square meters) of exhibit space incorporated state-of-art digital
technology at that time, and hands-on activity stations, plus a lounge. e gallery was well
received, making over a hundred thousand Korean-Canadians in Toronto proud of their
heritage, and having a venue to enjoy the arts of their origins and learn about their cultural
roots (Koh 1999; Wylie and Koh, 1999).
However, in the early 2000 the ROM underwent a major transformation to its
90-year-old building. A new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal building was erected on the site of
the Terrace galleries where the Gallery of Korea Art was located. As a result, the brand-
new Gallery of Korean Art was moved to the museum’s heritage wing (1914 building), re-
designed and reopened to the public in 2005. e new gallery, next to the museum’s Chinese
galleries, remains the largest in scale and in size dedicated to the art of Korea in Canada,
and one of the few in a Western museum.
About 260 works of art in the new gallery, from ceramics and furniture to technology
and metalwork, focused on themes of Korean Art and aspects of Korea life: Buddhist art,
painting, calligraphy and printing, Decorative arts, and Ceramics. The gallery further
highlights the history and development of Korean ceramics from stoneware to porcelain,
decorative arts, as well as revealing Korea’s rich history of printing, calligraphy and painting.
A special exhibit on Korean paintings was installed in the new H. H. Levy Gallery
of East Asian Painting in 2005, accompanying the reopening of the Korean Gallery and
showcasing a few light-sensitive materials like paintings and costumes. e exhibition was
entitled Korea around the 1900: Paintings of Gisan. Paintings of Gisan are not uncommon in
most Western museums; however, the ROM’s 27 paintings are exceptional for their contents,
collecting history, and especially for their very large size (Fig. 8). For the rst time many
Canadians and Korean-Canadians, learnt about this intriguing painter-entrepreneur who
sold his works primarily to foreign residents who were in large cities in Korea around the
1900s. e exhibition, curated by Dr. Christina Han, now an Assistant Professor of Asian
History at Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford Campus and Research Associate at the
ROM, shows how Gisan’s paintings t into an old tradition of Korean genre painting and
draws an interesting parallel with Chinese export painting that ourished in Guangdong
(aka Canton) and Ningbo in the late 18th century. This unique presentation also drew a
dynamic picture of how the ROM’s collection of Gisan painting, which was most likely
commissioned by a Canadian missionary in Korea, may have been used in Canada around
the 1900s. is is a very important study of later 19th-century Korea painting (Han 2005).
e Korean gallery (Fig. 9) was further renovated to include a new showcase of Korea
contemporary ceramics, thanks to nancial support from the National Museum of Korea.
The project, completed in 2013, provides informative storylines about aspects of Korea
heritage, traditions and innovations of ceramic making, with the aid of video production
meant to enhance story-telling.
Fig. 10 Professor Chisun Park’s lab, Seoul
South Korea, 2018. Photo Gwen Adams.
Fig. 8 Painting of men turning bowls, Gisan,
Ink and Colour on paper, Joseon Dynasty, 1885–
1910 AD, 125×69.8 cm, 985×5.27. Found in the
Museum Collection in 1985.
Fig. 9 Woodblock print of “From the Land of
Morning Calm,” Elizabeth Keith, Japanese
Occupation–Republic of Korea, c. 1921, 35×25.7
cm, 990.28.3.
2322
is necessary. Many scrolls need to be remounted while many works require restoration
before any of them can be presented in exhibition and programs. In general, the overall
collection has lacked assessments for conservation and preservation.
In March 2017 the ROM sent 4 paintings to Korea to be conser ved Dr.Professor
Chisun Park, Chairman of Korean Mounting and Conservation Association. This was
generously supported through the Overseas Korean Cultural Her itage Foundation
(OKCHF). The impact of the Cultural Heritage Administration’s support in conserving
these paintings cannot be overstated. They can now be added to the canon of historical
Korean paintings researched by scholars, and perhaps even more signicant, they can be
put on display and shown to the general public. e conservation team of Professor Park
restored the damaged paintings and removed them from their existing format and properly
remounted them. During the preliminary research, numerous areas of damage were found
on each of the paintings, the overall surfaces showed traces of horizontal creases and tears
that oen appear in hangings scrolls. e hanging scroll of the painting of the Jade Emperor
(玉皇上帝圖; Korean: 옥황상제도)(999.33.17, pl. 141) was so severely damaged—it arrived
at Dr. Park’s lab in two pieces. However, aer conservation treatment the paintings do not
show any traces of their previous damage. anks to the eorts of the Korean government
through OKCHF and their conservation project the ROM would like to submit more
paintings in the future to undergo the same conservation treatment.
Conclusion: Current and Future Collaborations
e ROM is the largest museum in Canada in terms of its scale and range of focus. It houses
the greatest collection of Korea arts in Canada. e ROM’s Gallery of Korea Art is the rst
in Canada, and one of the largest galleries of such outside Korea. However, the quality of the
ROM’s collection needs to be improved as well as the presentation of the galleries to provide
enhanced programming and storytelling of Korean life and cultures to the public.
e ROM has also been involved in a collaborative project generously supported by
the National Museum of Korea Overseas Korean Galleries Support Program. e ROM is
continuously working with the National Museum of Korea on the Korean Collection Digital
Asset Project to ensure that all our Korean objects are accessible through eMuseum, the
museum’s online digital collection available to the public through a web portal. e ROM’s
new web portal, eMuseum, allows public access to a selection of the ROM’s collection
via its website, provides powerful search and browsing features for general and academic
users, who can group collections based on theme, department, or collection type. It also
allows users to build personal collection lists where users can then save, share, or download
images. e intended targets for eMuseum are students, teachers, the public, academics and
researchers, as well as rights and reproduction clients. Currently, there are several modules
available on eMuseum, such as Exhibitions and My Collections, where users can curate
their own online collections using ROM objects. When searching for an object, eMuseum
aims to provide a better search engine and lter functions to help users navigate the online
collection through keyword searches or browse options, such as classication and date.
The ROM is very fortunate to be able to work with other museums and cultural
institutes in Korea. Together we can share our similar interests and reach our shared vision
for appreciations and protection of Korea’s cultural heritage. Moving forward, and for
prosperity of a future based on collaboration with Korean cultural agencies, we would like
to engage in the following areas.
•
Research exchanges to study museum collections: The collection catalogue needs
further improvement in terms of dating and identication. e ROM’s collection, like
many others in North American museums, contains many unsolved questions due to a
lack of Korean scholarship and study expertise.
•
Exchange and loans: Given the ROM’s current acquisition policy does not accept any
objects with questionable provenance, the best way to improve museum presentation
of Korea art in its galleries would be through long-term loans of ne-quality objects
from major museums of Korea. The loan of critical and important artefacts from
Korean museums to North Amer ican museums would represent a reciprocal
agreement to house objects in its permanent gallery that would not only illustrate a
complete Korean artistic history but would also raise the prole of Korea museums
engaging in external and local communities of Korea populations.
•
Special exhibitions: In one hundred years of the ROM’s history, sadly there has
not been a single major special exhibition of Korean art from collections in Korea
presented to the ROM, while other cultural regions such as China and Japan, have
been extensively presented. We are eager to work towards a major exhibition from
Korea in Toronto or a tour in North America, provided funding is feasible.
•
Conservations and preservation: As briey mentioned above, conservations of Korean
artefacts at the ROM or any museums in North America require specialized and
experienced individuals, working in specic areas. e collaboration between Korean
specialists and ROM conservators in painting, mounting and restorations would lead
to training in techniques of Korean traditions and styles, which currently is lacking in
most museums outside of Korea.
Research, presentations, and collection care for Korean works of art in North American
museums would further engage in public-driven programs leading to an understanding
of Korean history and culture. We want to raise Korea’s profile in Canada by building
relationships and securing networks with Korea and Korean-Canadians. And, in turn we
hope to establish substantial social and historical connections that will help represent an
inuential Korean culture in Canada, with an enduring artistic history, and preserve it.
We, as curators in such museums, are pleased to have this opportunity to work
together with our colleagues and professionals in Korea, in order to make it happen for the
many Korean communities overseas and the general public at large. We are condent that
the ROM’s collection covers an expanse of history and highlights some of the important
cultural achievements of Korean civilization. With an increasing interest in Korean art in
the West, the collection is steadily growing.
Reference Cited
C. Han, “e Korean Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum,” Orientations, April 2006, pp. 70–76.
C. Han, Korea around 1900: e Paintings of Gisan, Royal Ontario Museum, 2005.
C. Shen, “Objectives and Challenges: Past, Present, and Future of Collecting Chinese Antiquities in
the Royal Ontario Museum,” Collectors, Collections & Collecting the Arts of China: Histories
& Challenges, Jason Steuber with Guolong Lai (Ed). University Press of Florida, 2014, pp.
245–264.
Statistic Canada, “e Korean Communities in Canada,” http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-621-x/89-
621-x2007014-eng.htm.
H. Wylie & W. Koh, “Korea: A Timeless Beauty,” Royal Ontario Museum, 1999.