Professor Kim Hong-nam (Art History) was selected as the first female Director of the National Museum of Korea (NMK) in 60 years on August 8. Kim is also the first director who had not previously worked at the national museum.
? think that I was appointed as the first female Director of the NMK, not because I was a beneficiary of a special preference for a woman, but because of my nearly 17-year career as a professional in museum arts and history,?said Kim in her press conference at the National Folk Museum of Korea. ?MK is Korea? biggest museum, with 60 years of history and tradition, and I think it should play an important role in making Korea? culture richer and in informing people overseas of the value of our history and culture,?said Kim.
To be recognized as the most prestigious and the biggest museum in East Asia, Kim stressed that the NMK must develop creative exhibition programs and produce a synergy effect by connecting exhibitions with education in history and tradition. ?lso, I think there should be no boundaries among different fields of studies like archaeology and art history in the NMK. From now on, we should refrain from making boundaries of studies against studies and throw all our energy into touching audiences?hearts by making great exhibitions,?added Kim.
Kim graduated from Seoul National University in 1971, majoring in Aesthetics, and received her doctorate in the History of Chinese Art at Yale University. Kim became an Art History professor at Ewha in 1991. She was the Director of the Ewha University Museum, and from 2003 to August 2006 she served as the Director of the National Folk Museum of Korea.