Arirang -Happy Day

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• Text Feature 2026-05-26

  〈Arirang〉 Series, Four Prints (1991): What Does the British Museum Collection Mean?

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  Text Feature 2026-05-26

  〈Arirang〉 Series, Four Prints (1991): What Does the British Museum Collection Mean?

  On 23 November 1991, the British Museum accessioned four 〈Arirang〉 series woodblock prints by Shin Jang-sik into its Korean collection in a single batch. The four works carry consecutive registration numbers from 1991,1123,0.11 to 0.14.

  The four works carry distinct motifs: a grid of rounded rectangles (0.11), rows of candles within concentric circles (0.12), a circular fan rendered in red, yellow, blue, silver, and black (0.13), and a repetition of arched windows (0.14). Just as the 〈Arirang〉 folk song exists in approximately 3,600 variations of a single melody, the artist translated the same concept into a different visual language each time. Among the four, only 0.13 carries the artist's specified series title 〈Arirang — morning III〉 with Edition 10/11 — a visible marker of his own ordering within the series.

  The British Museum's Korea Foundation Gallery (Room 67) was established nine years after this acquisition, opening in 2000 with the support of the Korea Foundation, and was refurbished in 2014 with a grant from the National Museum of Korea. The museum has stated that its Korean collection policy favours works with "a definite Korean quality" rather than international-style modern art — a deliberate selection for works in which Korean identity is clearly articulated. The 1991 acquisition predates the gallery's founding by a full nine years and stands as an early instance of the museum's active reception of contemporary Korean art.

  For a painter, entering the British Museum's collection carries weight beyond the addition of works to an inventory. Founded in 1753, the British Museum is the world's first national museum, gathering the visual culture of humanity from circa AD 300 to the present in a single institution. To be held in its Korean collection — permanently preserved, accessible to scholars, researchers, and visitors — is generally read as a signal that the artist's visual language has been recognised as a chapter within the history of Korean art. The museum has noted that the rising prices of Korean art in recent years have made "major pieces increasingly difficult to acquire," which positions the 1991 acquisition of four works at once within a comparatively active acquisition period.

  〈Arirang〉 is a Korean folk song inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity — by South Korea in 2012 and by North Korea in 2014 — and has been transmitted through some 60 base versions and over 3,600 variations. It carries both the affect of han — sorrow and endurance shaped by the colonial and divided experiences of the twentieth century — and the affect of communal recovery and peaceful reconciliation. UNESCO has stated that the song "contributes to social relations, mutual respect, and peaceful social development, and helps people express their feelings and overcome grief." The artist's 1989–1991 〈Arirang〉 series gives the concept a contemporary visual form, and the diversity of motifs across the four works forms a visual analogue to the song's 3,600 variations.

  In 1989, the artist held his first overseas solo exhibition with the 〈Arirang〉 series at Galerie Roho in Berlin, traveling the following year to ON GALLERY in Osaka. In the same period, he received the Grand Prize at the 8th Korea National Art Exhibition for 〈Arirang — A Joyful Day Ⅴ〉, and second prizes at the Wakayama International Print Biennale in 1989, 1991, and 1993, drawing recognition from the Japanese art world. The British Museum's accession of these four works in November 1991 stands as a decisive entry point within this trajectory — placed nine years before the founding of the Korea Foundation Gallery (2000), twenty-one years before the UNESCO inscription of Arirang (2012), and thirty-five years before BTS named their fifth studio album 〈Arirang〉 (2026). The artist's 1989–1991 〈Arirang〉 series stands as a decisive early case of bringing the concept onto the international stage.

  Coverage (4)

  • The British Museum 1991
    〈Arirang〉 (1991,1123,0.11) ↗
  • The British Museum 1991
    〈Arirang〉 (1991,1123,0.12) ↗
  • The British Museum 1991
    〈Arirang - morning III〉 (1991,1123,0.13) ↗
  • The British Museum 1991
    〈Arirang〉 (1991,1123,0.14) ↗

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