Princess Anne, second from left, her husband, Vice Adm. Sir Timothy Laurence, left, and Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, center, view “Korea: 2,000 Years of Creativity,” an exhibition featuring the Lee Kun-hee Collection, at the British Museum in London on Sept. 30. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICSGlobal semiconductor industry leaders gathered in London for an event showcasing 2,000 years of Korean art and culture to European audiences.
Samsung said Thursday that it hosted a gala dinner at the British Museum in London on Wednesday to mark the opening of “Korea: 2,000 Years of Creativity,” a special exhibition featuring works from the collection of Lee Kun-hee, the late chairman of Samsung.
About 240 figures from Britain’s political, business and cultural circles attended, as well as Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong. He was joined by his mother, Hong Ra-hee, the honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, as well as his sisters, Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin and Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun.
Executives from European companies and research institutions that work with Samsung Electronics in advanced semiconductors were among the guests. They included ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet, Merck CEO Kai Beckmann, Zeiss CEO Andreas Pecher and Imec CEO Patrick Vandenameele.
The event celebrating Korean cultural heritage also served as an opportunity for Samsung to engage with key partners in semiconductor equipment, materials and research.
The Dutch company ASML supplies extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment used to etch advanced semiconductor circuits. Merck and Zeiss work with Samsung Electronics in semiconductor materials and precision optics, respectively. The Belgian research institute Imec is a partner in joint research on next-generation semiconductor technologies.
Britain's Princess Anne attended a reception before the dinner to celebrate the exhibition’s opening. British AI Minister Kanishka Narayan and executives from companies including BT Group, Vodafone and Standard Chartered also attended.
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong delivers welcoming remarks at a gala dinner marking the opening of “Korea: 2,000 Years of Creativity,” an exhibition featuring the Lee Kun-hee Collection at the British Museum in London on Sept. 30. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICSGuests from academia and the cultural sector included representatives from the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, Tate Modern and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In his remarks, Lee Jae-yong spoke about his family’s philosophy of placing greater importance on the preservation of art over ownership. He said Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull began collecting cultural heritage with the belief that it should be cared for and passed on to future generations, while his father carried on that legacy and devoted himself to preserving artworks throughout his life. The current chairman also said his mother dedicated herself to broadening the collection to encompass works ranging from ancient to modern art.
“For generations, my family has held a guiding principle that art and culture should be preserved and shared,” Executive Chairman Lee said. “I hope this exhibition offers a gateway into Korean culture, spanning 2,000 years of creativity and heritage, and that it will let everyone see Korea a little differently — for its beauty, its depth and its resilience.”
He also expressed gratitude to veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War, paying tribute to three British veterans attending the event, while also thanking Princess Anne, who visited the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea in Busan in July to honor the sacrifices of Korean War veterans.
The exhibition is the British Museum's first major special exhibition of Korean art in 42 years, since 1984, and co-organized by the National Museum of Korea, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the British Museum. Works donated to the state by the Samsung family are now being presented to European audiences after exhibitions in Washington and Chicago.
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, second from left, Princess Anne, center, and British Museum Chair George Osborne, left, meet with British veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War during a gala dinner for the Lee Kun-hee Collection exhibition at the British Museum in London on Sept. 30. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICSThe two U.S. exhibitions drew a combined 195,000 visitors, according to Samsung. About 80,000 visited the Washington exhibition and some 115,000 attended the Chicago exhibition. The Washington show drew the largest audience of any special exhibition held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art over the past decade.
A gala dinner marking the close of the Washington exhibition in January was attended by about 250 guests, including U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and Corning CEO Wendell Weeks.
After hosting figures from U.S. political and business circles at the Washington event, Executive Chairman Lee met executives from Samsung’s European semiconductor partners in London.
The cultural heritage Lee Kun-hee’s family collected and later donated is seen not only as a way to introduce Korean art to international audiences but also as a platform for international exchange.
The Korean exhibition at the British Museum’s Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery will run through Jan. 31, 2027.