BTS Gets a British Museum Art Trail: a Moon Jar, a Scholar’s Room and the Bell Behind ‘No. 29’

BTS’s London run now includes a stop in a museum gallery. The British Museum has built a trail around five objects in its Korea Foundation Gallery that connect to ARIRANG, the group’s fifth studio album, and it runs through July 23.

The trail is part of BTS THE CITY ARIRANG, a citywide fan experience built around the group’s world tour, which reached the U.K. capital last week, according to The Art Newspaper. The museum’s curator Sang-ah Kim chose the objects, and the museum’s own site asks the question: “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!”

What’s on the Trail

The five objects are a sarangbang, a reconstructed scholar’s room, a white porcelain moon jar, a store of treasures from the Silla Kingdom, gold earrings and two roof tiles, ARTnews reports. The Silla connection is a deep cut for fans: one ARIRANG track, “No. 29,” features the sound of the Bell of King Seongdeok, which dates to the Silla era. The kingdom was founded in 57 B.C., per Art Newspaper.

Fans can also collect stamps in a rally listed on Weverse, Hypebeast reports. The museum’s website frames the project this way: “BTS’s fifth studio album ARIRANG takes its motif from the Korean folk song that has become an enduring symbol of Korean identity and cultural heritage.”

Why It Matters

It is the second museum that BTS has used for this tour. ARTnews notes that the band earlier performed on the ramps of the Guggenheim, amid a Carol Bove retrospective, for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The British Museum version is public and free to wander, and it doubles as a trailer for Korea, the museum’s first major exhibition on the country’s art and history in more than 40 years, Blooloop says.

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It also fits a pattern. RM, who was named the National Museum of Korea’s first global public relations ambassador last month, opens his own show in October, as we covered in RM hangs Yun Hyong-keun beside Rothko at SFMOMA. June’s other music-meets-art stories include Lennon’s drawings in Liverpool.

It also fits a pattern. RM, who was named the National Museum of Korea’s first global public relations ambassador last month, has his own curated show coming to SFMOMA in October (our story on it). And this summer’s other music-meets-museum moments include Lennon’s drawings in Liverpool.

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