March 22, 2024. The MFA’s Hallyu exhibition officially opened to the general public, and they held the annual late nites to celebrate the opening. In attendance with me were some 5,000 people, less than the last one (held for Sargent back in the fall), but still a crazy amount of people. The exhibition, celebrating Korean pop culture, was originally on view at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. This is my review of both the exhibition and the Late Nites overall.

The main part of the exhibition points towards the music portion—especially the stage outfits. In the center, the plethora of outfits worn by aespa, ATEEZ, Big Bang, NCT, BTS, and ONEUS stand tall. It’s gorgeous, and the outfits are incredibly intricate and simple at the same time. Meanwhile, the pseudo room is filled with album covers of older artists like H.O.T., Seo Taeji and Boys, and Sechs Kies. There are other albums from more recent artists too, like Hyukoh’s 23. Visitors can listen to songs from the album via headphones fixed to the wall.

Another part of the exhibition showcases Korean entertainment and media. There are two separate rooms: a green one celebrating Korean beauty culture, with photos from magazines and dramas like Boys Over Flowers and True Beauty, and a purple one celebrating the aforementioned dramas. There’s a reconstruction of the bathroom from Parasite and posters and costumes from Squid Game. They have posters from other well-known dramas too, like My Love From A Star, Legend of the Blue Sea, Descendants of the Sun, and While You Were Sleeping. Within the exhibition as well, there’s a lightstick wall and a virtual dance teacher. The entire event is set up well and the curator, museum, and V&A all did an amazing job.

Wait! What’s that sound? I think it’s a crowd of people screaming “I Am The Best” by 2NE1 at the top of their lungs. Or maybe it’s “Good Day” by IU. I can’t tell. What I do know is that the crowd was massive. It was hard to get through, but I managed to get a vantage point, luckily. There was last-minute stage security, and the stage was a little too low for my liking. You could barely see the stage over the crowd of people. It was fascinating—but also concerning. I kept watching the crowd waiting for something to happen. This is engineered towards adults, mainly college students, and there was a bar. Luckily, though, nothing happened other than some pushing.

The first to perform was Hypnosis Therapy. They came about through a TV show, and they were great. I can’t say the crowd knew them very much, but the crowd still got excited. The cover of “Baggy Jeans” was great and everyone got so excited. It was kind of funny because they just stood with the crowd watching the rest of the performances.

Next to perform was also the host, Ailee. Starting with “U&I” was an amazing choice, and the crowd was so excited. I don’t exactly remember what other songs she performed between “U&I” and the last song, “I Will Show You,” but she was good!

And then there was 1Million. And what. What a performance. Because the energy! The dances! Lia Kim! Absolutely incredible. “Smoke” popped on and the amount of screams and singing along that began to happen was incredible. 

Late Nites was incredible. And so was the exhibition. The next MFA Late Nites will be on May 10 and is more technology-based than this past one. Boston Dynamics and their sponsor Hyundai will be there, and you will also have an opportunity to see the exhibition. I’d recommend going to at least the exhibition, as it’s nicely done. Tickets are not timed for this one. The museum’s hours, for those curious, are as follows: open 10 am everyday except Tuesday, when they’re closed all day. On Thursdays and Fridays, they’re open to 10 pm, and every other day they’re open until 5.