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Oriental Museum
Lunar New Year 2023 celebration at the Oriental Museum, showing red lanterns with gold tassels

Silla Collection 100 Project

19 May 2021 - 12 September 2021  

Korea Gallery 

The Silla Collection 100 Project brought ancient Korean jewellery into the 21st century.

The Silla Collection 100 Project consists of 100 brooches inspired by traditional jewellery and accessories from the Korean Silla dynasty (57 BCE-935 CE). The Silla dynasty saw the art of metalworking reach its height, with craftspeople manufacturing elaborate jewellery and crowns made from incredibly thin sheets of gold and studded with expensive imported gems. These historic examples inspired the artist and crafts woman, Seeun Kim, to create her own, modern take on the tradition. 

Seeun Kim is a Korean metalworker and jeweller who trained in traditional jewellery making at Hiko-Mizuno College of Jewellery, Japan (2012 – 2016) before studying at the Royal College of Art, London (2018 – 2020). Seeun believes that jewellery manufacture is her vocation and enjoys merging the traditional and the modern in terms of style, materials and techniques. She has participated in several group and solo exhibitions in the UK, China and Japan. 

Group of five brooches made from a copper-coloured metal in different shapes with stones set into them.