Carved wooden statue of a smiling monk in a red and blue robe, hands together in prayer. Front and back view on a dark blue background.
Exhibition

Flip Sides: Seeing Korean Art Anew

Most objects are displayed to show their “best” angle meant to impress, sometimes hiding intriguing details. Flip Sides: Seeing Korean Art Anew invites close looking and offers multiple views of the inside, reverse, or hard-to-see aspects of objects.

Bringing together approximately 50 objects from The Met collection, with more than half displayed for the first time, this exhibition, with a rotation, shows treasured Korean traditions. By presenting them in ways that give us a fuller picture into each object’s unique form, Flip Sides provides insight into the construction and function of works in metal, wood, ceramic, textiles, and lacquer. A Buddhist sculpture that held offerings inside, a porcelain jar of striking openwork that conceals an inner chamber, a bronze mirror with a delicately incised image, and a king’s lacquer letter box with linings featuring impressive calligraphy are among the featured objects in Flip Sides.

During the exhibition, a selection of artworks will come off view and be replaced by new works:
Rotation 1: March 16–October 18, 2026
Rotation 2: October 31, 2026–May 9, 2027

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Una foto de una charla. Rodeada por una exposición, un ponente interactúa con un pequeño grupo.

Met Expert Talks—Flip Sides

May 14 3:00 PMThe Met Fifth Avenue
Image Credits
Korea, Kashyapa (detail), dated 1700. Wood with polychrome paint, H. 22 in. (55.9 cm); W. 9 in. (22.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1942 (42.25.8)