KF뉴스레터-The KF Global Challengers Program

KF Korean Language Education Internship

During my internship at the British Museum, I was able to experience various kinds of work. First, I participated in the preparations and gallery rotations for new exhibits at the KF Gallery. The first rotation was on the very first day of my internship, for an exhibit titled “New Moons.” The exhibit featured the 17th-century “moon jar” and other works with a “moon jar” motif, and in the course of the installation I was able to see the potential of one work of art to inspire and influence other artists. Being part of the gallery rotation, I helped to locate and handle objects as well, and through this process I learned more about the individual objects and how they were protected. For example, the surface of one shrine painting was found to have traces of cooked rice, used in the past as an adhesive. With this knowledge, I could imagine life back then.
  Next, I assisted with a project for a team from the Korean National Research Institution of Cultural Heritage, scheduled to visit the British Museum as part of a catalog project on Korean artifacts in the United Kingdom. To ensure the survey’s success, my supervisor and I located various requested objects in storage, preparing relevant information and getting the objects ready for the team.
  At Chuseok, a Chuseok Festival was organized by the KF and other organizations. My job was to communicate with other Korea-related organizations and prepare events for the festival. It wasn’t easy, but we wanted visitors to go back with good memories and learn more about Korea.
Toward the end of my internship, I worked on cataloging a donation of Korean sherds that hadn’t been taken care of for a long time. I took pictures and updated the related information as much as possible to enable easier management of the collection in the future.
  Outside of work, I attended various seminars and conferences. I had the chance to attend a lecture by Professor Youngsook Pak at the School of Oriental and African Studies. I was surprised to see how much her students enjoyed Korean art, and her enthusiasm was just amazing. I also had the opportunity to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum and see the Korean collections housed there. At the Fitzwilliam, I had the chance to observe Korean celadon up close as part of preparations for my thesis.
  During my internship, I acquired numerous skills needed for museum work, including research methods and handling objects. More than anything, though, my time at the museum taught me about passion. All of the staff members had their own passion and were willing to work hard as a result, and working with them, I was able to realize my own passion in life.