National Museum of Asian Art appoints Hwang Sun-woo as first specialist Korean curator

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) has named Hwang Sun-woo its inaugural specialist Korean curator, the museum said Tuesday in a press release.

National Museum of Asian Art [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART]

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) has named Hwang Sun-woo its inaugural specialist Korean curator, the museum said Tuesday in a press release.

Hwang was selected as the Korea Foundation (KF) curator of Korean art and culture in April 2024, according to the NMAA. Hwang’s appointment is part of a KF initiative to establish curatorships in Korean art, which was initiated in 2019.

The curator training program is funded by a joint fund established by the KF and overseas museums, such as the Smithsonian, KF said in a press release on Wednesday.

Hwang received a Master of Arts degree in humanities from the University of Chicago in 2009 and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at Dongguk University. She is specializing in Buddhist wall paintings in Shanxi province, China, for her doctorate.

Hwang will manage the Korea-related collection at the museum and oversee the renovation of the permanent Korean gallery at the Freer Gallery of Art.

“She will shape a major Korean art loan exhibition already scheduled for 2025–2026 from the National Museum of Korea, featuring masterworks recently donated by the family of former Samsung Corporation Chairman Lee Kun-hee,” said the museum.

NMAA is one of the first museums in the United States to exhibit Korean art, currently hosting the “Park Chan-kyong: Gathering” exhibition by artist Park Chan-kyong. The museum installed Korean artist Do Ho Suh's sculpture “Public Figures” at the Freer Plaza to commemorate its 100th anniversary last April.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]