Thailand art exhibition makes Korean debut at National Museum

A promotional poster for the 2026 Special Exhibition Amazing Thailand: Masterpieces of Thai Art / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

The National Museum of Korea will open Amazing Thailand: Masterpieces of Thai Art on Tuesday, bringing 239 works of Thai cultural heritage to Korean audiences for the first time in the country's history.

The exhibition, running through Sept. 6 at the museum's Special Exhibition Gallery 1, is organized jointly with the Fine Arts Department of Thailand's Ministry of Culture.

Drawn from 21 Thai national museums, including the National Museum Bangkok, the collection spans prehistoric artifacts to contemporary works and includes sculpture, painting and decorative crafts — a breadth rarely assembled even within Thailand.

The centerpiece is a 14th-century Walking Buddha from the Sukhothai period, regarded as the most original form of Thai Buddhist sculpture. The figure's fluid, forward-striding posture — unique in Buddhist iconography — represents the Buddha descending from heaven after preaching to his deceased mother.

Three thematic sections guide visitors chronologically: prehistoric and prekingdom societies, the classical Sukhothai, Lanna and Ayutthaya kingdoms, and the Rattanakosin (Bangkok) Kingdom from 1782 to the present.

The gallery has been designed to evoke traditional Thai architecture, incorporating replica temple brickwork and palace corridor ornamentation alongside augmented reality experiences and interactive kiosks.

Admission is free from opening day through June 30. Live Khon masked dance performances — a tradition inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list — were held at the museum's open plaza on Saturday and Sunday. A traveling exhibition of Buddhist works from the same collection will open at Tongdosa Museum, South Gyeongsang Province, on Oct. 4.

"This exhibition offers an invaluable chance for visitors to deeply engage with the history and culture of Thailand," said You Hong-June, director of the National Museum of Korea.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.