A Rare Opportunity
to see Asian contemporary history at the V&A
A dream comes true!
When I went to London last April for the London Book Fair, I didn't think that I would have a chance to visit the V&A special exhibition, Hallyu! The Korean Wave.
Unexpectedly, the opportunity arose. I had many businesses to attend in the UK and, luckily enough, had finished all the tasks before I went home from London. So here I am, revisiting my younger time when I was a K-pop fan (once upon a time lol).
Everyone must have known Netflix's Squid Game by now.
The exhibition captures a wide array of how Korean pop culture has changed South Korea and the world. Unlike other V&A exhibitions that I have been to, this one is specifically close to my heart because Thailand is one of the places heavily influenced by the K-wave.
The country took K-pop at its early stage, amongst an awful lot of pop culture from Hong Kong, China, Japan, and India. (Come to think of it, we do get excited about foreign pop culture quite easily 😂). Not to mention that a hundred years ago, I was part of K-pop fandoms like VIPs, SONE, and E.L.F. It was almost nostalgic to re-visit my teenage K-pop experience and nod along to the references there.
The Royal chef uniform from Dae Jang Geum (2003)
One of the first K-pop heritages in Thailand would be the TV drama, Dae Jang Geum, which opened Thai audiences to many other Korean literary products from romantic novels (which were questionably marketised as teens' novels), manhwa, webtoons, K-drama and K-pop to Korean food, cosmetics, fashion, and tourism.
An example of fan-paid billboards in Thailand is shown in the exhibition.
The K-pop dance cover has been so popular since my teenage years that there are now many school clubs and dance competitions specifically dedicated to this type of dance. The idol culture has also become so strong in both entertainment and political domains that a few years ago, Thailand saw its many K-pop fandoms hi-jack several Twitter hashtags that the government supporters used against its protesters. They also called out for the abuse of the Thai Lèse-majesté law on billboards they had commonly rented to wish their Korean idols a happy birthday.
My favourite activity, the K-pop dance station.
I might be just a noob, but come check my moves!
While I had a good time at the exhibition, it would be much more fun to see more examples of how the K-wave has brought about social discussions and cultural changes in different parts of the world both for the better and for the worse. To any K-pop fan in London, I do recommend visiting this exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum and trying out the K-pop dance with me. 😉
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