V&a Celebrates ‘Korean Wave’ of Popular Culture with New Exhibition

Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)
Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)
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V&a Celebrates ‘Korean Wave’ of Popular Culture with New Exhibition

Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)
Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)

From the bright pink guard costumes in hit Netflix series "Squid Game" to a large sculpture of rapper G-Dragon, London's V&A museum is celebrating South Korean popular culture and its rise to global prominence in a new exhibition opening this week.

Among the items on display at "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" are K-Pop costumes, K-drama props as well as a replica of the bathroom set in Oscar-winning film "Parasite".

"This exhibition is actually celebrating the vibrant and colorful popular culture from South Korea from its inception to its place on the global stage," curator Rosalie Kim told Reuters at a preview on Wednesday.

"'Hallyu' actually means Korean wave and it refers to this meteoric rise of popular culture from South Korea that has taken the world by storm in the past few decades."

The exhibition is split into different sections including K-pop and its fans, television drama and cinema, fashion and beauty.

Greeting visitors is the pink jacket singer PSY wore in the music video for his 2012 mega hit "Gangnam Style". Other outfits on display include ensembles worn by G-Dragon and K-pop groups ATEEZ and Aespa as well as colorful designer creations.

From the world of television, there are costumes from historical dramas as well as the recognizable pink boiler suits and a green tracksuit from "Squid Game".

The "Parasite" bathroom replica is the first time the set from the protagonist Kim family's basement flat has been recreated, with the museum working closely with the film's production designer Lee Ha-jun.

Other items on display include photographs, posters, record covers and K-pop fan banners. Visitors can also take part in an interactive K-pop dance challenge.

"Hallyu! The Korean Wave" opens on Saturday and runs until June.



‘Mufasa’ and ‘Sonic 3’ Rule First Weekend of 2025

Director Barry Jenkins at the premiere of "Mufasa: The Lion King." (AFP via Getty Images)
Director Barry Jenkins at the premiere of "Mufasa: The Lion King." (AFP via Getty Images)
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‘Mufasa’ and ‘Sonic 3’ Rule First Weekend of 2025

Director Barry Jenkins at the premiere of "Mufasa: The Lion King." (AFP via Getty Images)
Director Barry Jenkins at the premiere of "Mufasa: The Lion King." (AFP via Getty Images)

The Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa” claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.

The photorealistic “Lion King” prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn’t far behind.

“Sonic 3” stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. “Mufasa’s” running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.

In third place, Focus Features’ “Nosferatu” remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable.

“Nosferatu,” which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses).

No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, “Moana 2,” claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.

The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it's Searchlight's highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in 2019.

A24’s drama “Babygirl," which added 49 locations, held steady at $4.5 million.

Another Thanksgiving leftover, “Wicked,” rounded out the top five. Universal’s movie musical was made available to purchase on VOD on Jan. 31, but still earned another $10.2 million from theaters. The movie is up for several awards at Sunday’s Golden Globes, including nominations for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, best motion picture musical or comedy and “cinematic and box office achievement,” which last year went to “Barbie.”

Also in theaters this weekend was the IMAX re-release of David Fincher’s 4K restoration of “Seven,” which earned just over $1 million from 200 locations.

The 2025 box office year is already off to a better start than 2024, up around 20% from the same weekend last year.