Global K-pop icons BTS and Blackpink are tapping into national heritage for major new projects, collaborating with historic landmarks and national institutions to spotlight traditional Korean culture on the global stage, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Blackpink will team up with the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul to mark the Feb 27 release of its new EP, Deadline. The quartet has become the first K-pop act to launch a large-scale collaboration with the national museum.
The "National Museum of Korea X Blackpink” project will begin on Feb 26 for an 11-day run in partnership with the museum and the global music streaming platform Spotify, according to YG Entertainment, the group’s agency.
Deadline will mark the band’s first full-group project in three years and five months since Born Pink in September 2022.
The girl group will provide voice commentary on eight of the museum’s signature artefacts, allowing visitors to hear descriptions of Korea’s historical treasures in the members’ voices.
The museum’s exterior will be illuminated in the group’s signature colour, pink, to mark the release.
BTS has chosen Gwanghwamun Square, an iconic landmark in the heart of Seoul, as the venue for a free concert on March 21 to mark the release of its fifth full-length album, Arirang, named after Korea’s most famous folk song.
BigHit Music, the band’s agency, said the landmark was selected because it reflects the symbolic weight carried by the title. The performance is expected to fuse Korean traditional heritage with state-of-the-art stage production.
Police estimate that as many as 260,000 fans could gather in and around Gwanghwamun Square, although the concert venue itself will accommodate only about 15,000 ticket holders.
The concert will also be streamed live on Netflix to more than 190 countries, giving global viewers a glimpse of Korea’s cultural heritage alongside the group’s performance.
Cultural critic Jung Duk-hyun said the initiatives by BTS and Blackpink could have an impact beyond music.
"If traditional culture is presented purely through promotional materials, people might resist it,” he said.
"But when beloved artists introduce it naturally, the effect can be far greater. Every move these artists make now forms part of K-culture.” - Bernama-Yonhap
