When tickets to see the K-Pop boy band BTS perform their latest album, ARIRANG, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were released in January, it was hardly a surprise when they sold out almost immediately – it is unclear if this was quicker than the ticket sales for the Bayeux Tapestry. The band’s two nights at the stadium, on 6 and 7 July, marked their return to the city after more than seven years, with all seven members of the group – Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook – having finally completed their mandatory service in the South Korean army.
Rakewell is sad to say that we failed to snap up one of the 120,000 tickets to see the band in action. So the British Museum’s announcement that it would be organising a ‘BTS THE CITY ARIRANG’ tour through its Korea gallery this month – part of a wider initiative to BTS-ify London to mark the band’s visit – was a salve for the sting of having to sit this concert out.
‘What do the latest album from global music sensation BTS and the British Museum’s Korea gallery have in common?’ asks the British Museum’s website. ‘Rather a lot as it turns out!’ This is not the first time that BTS have been associated with the arts. Back in 2022, Apollo was one of the first media outlets to sing the praises of BTS member RM’s art collecting when it included him in 40 under 40. Naturally, RM is one of the region’s top patrons for his collection of contemporary Korean art and a keen supporter of organisations such as the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (OKCHF).
At the British Museum, the gallery tour takes its cue from the group’s latest album title. ‘Arirang’ is one of South Korea’s most treasured folk songs – a centuries-old ballad of love and resilience often referred to as the country’s ‘unofficial’ national anthem. Alas the tour is not something designed by BTS themsleves, but, building on the idea of Korean cultural heritage, curator Sang-ah Kim has selected five objects from the museum’s collection for visitors to see. Sure, a British Museum tour can’t quite compare to hearing the dulcet tones of the BTS boys as they belt out hits such as ‘Merry Go Round’, but Rakewell is always happy to take in one of the museum’s delightful moon jars or pay a visit to the sarangbang, a full-scale recreation of a 19th-century scholar’s room. ‘The open doors can be seen as an invitation towards new beginnings’, says the museum, ‘reflecting themes of optimism and momentum (themes that run throughout ARIRANG).’
You can’t blame the museum for jumping on the BTS bandwagon to drum up a bit more buzz around its upcoming ‘Korea’ exhibition, which opens in October and will include hundreds of objects spanning more than 2,000 years of Korean history – a version of a show that opened in Chicago earlier this year. The museum must be hoping that the 120,000-strong ‘ARMY’ – as the BTS fandom calls itself – that made the trip to Tottenham will be as quick to snag a ticket to this show too.
