Knitted together: the Korean lives and legacies of Richard and Joan Rutt

28 September 2024 to 4 May 2025

Drawing on the objects and photographs of the main donors to the Korean collection at the Oriental Museum, Knitted Together detailed Richard and Joan Rutt’s 20 years living in South Korea in the immediate aftermath of the Korean War (1950 – 1953).

Richard and Joan Rutt sharing a meal at Hyeonyang Orphanage, South Korea, 5 November 1969

Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of when Richard first arrived in Korea as a missionary in 1954, and 50 years since both Richard and Joan Rutt left Korea in 1974, this exhibition focused on the influences of Korea on their lives, and the wide-ranging legacies of the couple. 

The exhibition was set in three parts – a photography exhibition of Richard Rutt’s photographs of Korea taken between 1954 – 1974 that showed the changing country and his life in South Korea first as a missionary, and then as Anglican Bishop of Daejeon. An installation in the permanent Korea Gallery focused on the impact of the Rutt collection on the development of the Korean collection at the museum. This was complemented by a special temporary exhibition that focused on the legacies that the Rutts’ had both as a result of their time in Korea, but also extending beyond this into literature, church history, and knitting.

The objects and photographs on display were from the permanent collection of the Oriental Museum, donated by Richard and Joan Rutt in 1991 and 2011, with additional pieces generously borrowed from the Rutt family archives.

Find out more about the Korean collection at the Oriental Museum. 

This exhibition is part of a project generously funded by the National Museum of Korea.  

Lapwing: the life of Bishop Richard Rutt

This book, published by the Friends of the Oriental Museum to coincide with Knitted Together, is an edited version of Rutt's unpublished autobiographical manuscript. 

The book is a journey through Rutt's life, from his childhood in 1930's Bedfordshire, to his life in South Korea from the 1950s to the 1970s, and his return to England.  In includes contributions from: 

- Oriental Museum curators Lauren Barnes and Rachel Barclay discussing the impact of the Rutt donation to the Oriental Museum

- family members Peter Rutt and Stephen Rutt sharing their memories of Richard and Joan 

- Helen Wyld of National Museums of Scotland discussing Richard's contribution to knitting

- Prof Keith Pratt, former Head of East Asian Studies at Durham University, giving an overview of Richard's publications. 

The book is available from the Oriental Museum gift shop.