Globalizing South Korean Creativity: Exhibiting and Archiving Hallyu, the Korean Wave
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Sch of Music
Abstract
Recent international media headlines on South Korean popular culture and its success clearly show how it is going global and making tangible impact worldwide. In the context of the fast-growing international prominence of South Korean popular culture, known as the Korean Wave or Hallyu, this project establishes an interdisciplinary 'Hallyu Network' between scholars from the UK and South Korea, to explore the multifaceted process of the mainstremisation, institutionalisation and canonisation of Korean culture and creativity. The 2022 Hallyu Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum offers a timely case study for the project, which will explore: how Hallyu from South Korea becomes mainstreamed globally and what are the UK connections with this phenomenon; how Hallyu fans create and exercise their influence; how popular Hallyu becomes art Hallyu and what roles the arts and heritage organisations play in this process. The project also aims to promote knowledge exchange and networking between academics, creative industries and policy makers in the UK and South Korea and this will be done through a series of network activities including seminars, roundtables, symposium and workshops held in London and Seoul.
This Hallyu Network consists of scholars across the academic disciplines in social science, arts and humanities, including early career researchers from two countries. The participants' wide-ranging expertise are highly relevant to the project objectives while complementing each other. During the 18 months of the project, 5 network events are planned and they are: the opening online meeting (Event 1, April 2022) followed by 2 one-day meetings in London (Event 2 & 3, October 2022), a 2 day-long symposium and workshop in Seoul (Event 4, April 2023) and the final online meeting (Event 5, July 2023) to conclude the project. Event 2 in London will coincide with the 2022 Hallyu Exhibition at the V&A Museum, while Event 3 will be held in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre UK, one of the project partners. Event 4, a 2-day long symposium and workshop will be hosted by the Korean research partner, Hanguk University of Foreign Studies. Industry specialists and policy makers will be invited as guests to facilitate wider networking and collaborative opportunities. The seminar sessions will also be open to audiences from academia, media and cultural industries for broader impact. Postgraduate students who study creative industries, media, cultural policy and Korean and Asian studies will also be invited to the seminars. The project outputs will include a journal special issue on the main research themes and a symposium proceedings. The Hallyu Network will also seek further collaboration and funding opportunities for individual researchers, organisations and creative industry sectors from the UK and South Korea, in order to expand our understanding of Hallyu in the making, and its growing impact, as entertainment, art and cultural heritage, both nationally and globally.
This Hallyu Network consists of scholars across the academic disciplines in social science, arts and humanities, including early career researchers from two countries. The participants' wide-ranging expertise are highly relevant to the project objectives while complementing each other. During the 18 months of the project, 5 network events are planned and they are: the opening online meeting (Event 1, April 2022) followed by 2 one-day meetings in London (Event 2 & 3, October 2022), a 2 day-long symposium and workshop in Seoul (Event 4, April 2023) and the final online meeting (Event 5, July 2023) to conclude the project. Event 2 in London will coincide with the 2022 Hallyu Exhibition at the V&A Museum, while Event 3 will be held in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre UK, one of the project partners. Event 4, a 2-day long symposium and workshop will be hosted by the Korean research partner, Hanguk University of Foreign Studies. Industry specialists and policy makers will be invited as guests to facilitate wider networking and collaborative opportunities. The seminar sessions will also be open to audiences from academia, media and cultural industries for broader impact. Postgraduate students who study creative industries, media, cultural policy and Korean and Asian studies will also be invited to the seminars. The project outputs will include a journal special issue on the main research themes and a symposium proceedings. The Hallyu Network will also seek further collaboration and funding opportunities for individual researchers, organisations and creative industry sectors from the UK and South Korea, in order to expand our understanding of Hallyu in the making, and its growing impact, as entertainment, art and cultural heritage, both nationally and globally.
| Description | The project, 'Globalizing South Korean Creativity: Exhibiting and Archiving Hallyu, the Korean Wave' is an interdisciplinary network of academics and researchers from the UK and South Korea established to explore the globalization of the Korean Wave and Korean creative industries. This 18-month long project, running from Feb 2022 to July 2023, is co-led by Haekyung Um (PI) at the University of Liverpool and Hye-Kyung Lee (Co-I) at Kings College London. As an ongoing network project, into the 14th month of the award period, the project outcomes and key findings are closely linked to the 'Engagement Activities' and 'Collaborations and Partnerships' of the project. In this context, the most significant achievements from the award so far are also associated with these two areas as follows: (1) A WIDE SPECTRUM OF TRANS-DISCIPLINARITY OF MEMBERS The network members' academic disciplines include: media & communication, popular music, anthropology, ethnomusicology, music industry, creative industries, cultural policy, cultural studies, sociology, AV media & video art, film studies, art history, Information & archiving science, and digital museology. Their professional specialisations are also wide ranging to include: a documentary film director, executive director of festivals and a cultural policy maker. The participation of non-academic and industry practitioners also offer diverse perspectives and views. (2) WIDENING PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS In the UK, the Korean Cultural Centre UK provided a very useful connection between the Korean public sector and the network. Their ongoing partnership with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) was also helpful for the current project to establish a working relationship with the Korean Wave exhibition curators at the V&A. In Korea, the Institute for Information and Archiving Science at Hanguk University of Foreign Studies was the first Korean partner for the project, given the emerging importance of archiving Hallyu. The other Korean partner, the Center for Hallyu Studies at Seoul National University, launched in March 2022, formally became a key partner in September 2022, as they will host the 2023 events in Seoul. The World Music Center, a Korean third sector organisation which supports international arts and academic events, has also recently joined the network. (3) STRONG CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE AIMS AND QUESTIONS OF THE PROJECT AND THE RESEARCH METHODS, which are built around a range of activities, including online meetings, seminars, roundtables, Q&A sessions, symposia and workshops. All research activities examine the project aims and questions closely. For example, the roundtable discussions focused on heritage and art museums to 'explore the on-going institutional recognition and canonisation of Hallyu' (October 2022). The 'Political Economy of K-pop Fandom' session aims to 'produce new knowledge of the Korean Wave' (April 2023). A workshop with industry specialists (in K-drama, K-pop and media industry), and Korean and UK academic discussants will 'promote knowledge exchange and networking'. Additionally, two curators, one from the UK and another one from South Korea, will discuss the curation of their respective Hallyu exhibitions (April 2023). Significantly, when combined together, the different activities and interdisciplinary interactions of the network created opportunities for creative exchanges that many participants considered to be unique in their experience. Additionally, these discussions and exchange of knowledge are expected to contribute to public policy development for both the Korean Wave and other creative industries in general. |
| Exploitation Route | A journal special issue will be one of the project's main outputs and it will explore the issues and processes of the institutionalisation and canonisation of popular culture, especially Hallyu exhibition and archiving. The PI, Co-I and Seok-Kyeong Hong of the Center for Hallyu Studies at Seoul National University will co-edit the issue. Several potential international journals in cultural studies, cultural sociology, media studies and Korean studies are currently being explored. The outcome of the 2023 Seoul events will help to identify potential contributions to the journal issue. All possibilities for further funding opportunities will also be discussed with the interested network members at and after the Seoul event. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | Online Presentation on the ESRC Hallyu Network Project & its 2022 London Events, 25 October 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Haekyung Um (PI) gave a presentation on zoom about the network project and its 2022 London events at the Yun Bosun Memorial Symposium 'Cultural Impact and Hallyu (K-Culture)' organised by the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies at Edinburgh University on 25 October 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Public Seminar (morning), 14 October 2022 - Two-day Research Events in London 14-15 October 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This public seminar was held in the morning of 14 October 2022 in the Savoy Place conference center. Before the events, the network members attended the Korean Wave Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which opened on the 24th of September 2022. The presenters and discussants were network members plus several invited guests including a UK cultural policy maker and two curators in charge of the Hallyu Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). The seminar focused on the following research questions: - How Hallyu is presented and consumed as a mainstream global culture? - What roles the UK's creative industries and cultural consumers play in this global process? - How fan activities and fan engagement with Korean culture in everyday life give shape to Hallyu and its reception in the UK in general? - How art museums and heritage institutions construct and represent Hallyu by selecting, recognising and archiving particular aspects of Hallyu? The presentations were as follows: 10:00-10:30 'Globalisation of Hallyu (Korean Wave)', Hong, Seok-Kyeong, commented by Nick Prior and Q&A 10:30-11:00 'UK creative industries and consumers in global contexts', Keith Negus, commented by Kim, Soyoung and Q&A 11:00-11:30 'Korean Wave fans in the UK', Colette Balmain; commented by Kim, Yeran and Q&A 11:30-12:00 Coffee break 12:00-12:30 'The institutionalisation and the industrialisation of Hallyu, Shim, Doobo, commented by John Newbigin and Q&A 12:30-13:00 Special talk on the Hallyu exhibition by Rosalie Kim and Yoojin Choi (V&A) and Q&A |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Roundtable (afternoon), 14 October 2022 - Two-day events in London 14-15 October 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | A roundtable discussion was held in the afternoon, 14 October 2022 in the Savoy Place conference center, involving the network members and several invited guests. It focused on the following research questions: - How Hallyu has entered the international 'art world'. And what factors and who facilitated this canonisation process? - How art museums and heritage institutions as well as media deal with the bottom-up aspects of Hallyu, including global fan culture, creative fan practices and fan economy? The talks were as follows: 14:30-14:40 'How does pop culture become heritage?' Sara Cohen 14:40-14:50 'Hallyu and heritage institutions' by Kim Heesun 14:50-15:10 Discussion 15:10-15:25 Break 15:25-15:40 'Hallyu in art museum: from multimedia perspective', Holly Rogers and Q&A 15:40-16:55 'Hallyu and the use of digital technology', Park, Juhee and Q&A 16:55-16:10 'Archiving Hallyu: emerging questions', Noh, Meung-Huan and Choi, Hyojin and Q&A 16:10:16:30 Discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | The First Hallyu Network Meeting on zoom, 12 May 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The first network meeting on zoom was held on 12 May. The project aims and activities were explained to the network members and questions and queries from the network members were answered. A small group chat session also helped the network members to learn more about each other and their work. Two postgraduate assistants from the Institute for Information and Archiving Science, one of the project partners, helped with Korean translation for the Korean participants. This meeting enabled the UK and South Korean members from wide-ranging disciplines to meet for the first time. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Workshop, 15 October 2022 - Two-day events in London 14-15 October 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The second day's programme in London was a workshop held in the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCC UK), one of the network project partners. This workshop, included: a Q&A session (30 minutes) with the director of KCC UK, and the following research questions: - How Hallyu is presented and consumed as a mainstream global culture? - What roles Korean cultural policy and cultural diplomacy institutions play in this global process? The workshop programme included: 10:00-10:20 Opening talk: 'Hallyu and cultural policy: observations', Shim, Doobo, and discussion 10:20-10:40 'Hallyu, nation branding and soft power', Kim-Marie Spence (5 min), 10-min discussion 10:40-11:00 'How is Hallyu reshaping Korean studies?', Mark Plaice (5 min), 10-min discussion 11:00-11:30 Q&A with the Director of the Korean Cultural Centre UK London (30 min) 11:30-11:50 Break 11:50-12:10 'Hallyu policy from music business perspectives', Lee, Dongjoon and Lim, Jungmok (10 min), 10-min discussion 12:10-12:40 Planning Seoul events |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |