The interior of the National Museum of Korea is lit in pink, K-pop girl group BLACKPINK’s signature color, during the “NMK X BLACKPINK” project in Seoul, Thursday. The event officially opens to the public on Friday. Courtesy of YG Entertainment
The National Museum of Korea (NMK) is designed to protect and showcase centuries of the nation’s history. For nearly two weeks, its monumental “Path of History” lobby is doing something else entirely: pulsing to the beats of K-pop icon BLACKPINK’s new release.
Ahead of the girl group’s third mini-album “DEADLINE,” which drops Friday at 2 p.m., BLACKPINK partnered with the country’s flagship museum for a special project running through March 8. The collaboration opened with a prerelease listening event held inside the museum’s main ground floor atrium, Thursday, marking the first time the institution has allowed its symbolic central space to be used for a K-pop partnership.
Visitors attend the prerelease listening event for the “NMK X BLACKPINK” project at the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, Thursday. The girl group’s agency, YG Entertainment, is presenting the collaboration at the museum through March 8 to mark BLACKPINK’s “DEADLINE” album. Courtesy of YG
Beneath an eight-meter digital rendering of the Gwanggaeto Stele, a towering monument commemorating the Goruryeo era’s (37 BCE-668 CE) King Gwanggaeto the Great, guests formed a loose but eager circle as the album’s five new tracks filled the vast hall. From the viral prerelease single “JUMP” to its widely-anticipated title track “GO,” the music reverberated against stone and glass surfaces more accustomed to the quiet murmurs of museum guests.
A dedicated listening zone along the hallway also allows museumgoers to hear the full “DEADLINE” album during regular museum hours throughout the collaboration period , encouraging visitors to experience K-pop and history together.
By placing the group’s music inside a space dedicated to preservation, the collaboration reads as more than just a crossover. BLACKPINK subtly positions K-pop within the historical and cultural timeline, framing the album release as a statement about legacy and longevity.
The National Museum of Korea is illuminated in pink during the “NMK X BLACKPINK” project, Seoul, Thursday. The collaboration, presented by YG Entertainment to mark BLACKPINK’s “DEADLINE” album release, runs through March 8. Courtesy of YG
The transformation extends beyond sound.
Throughout the event period, the museum’s exterior and parts of its interior have been bathed in BLACKPINK’s signature pink hue, reshaping the institution’s solemn facade. Visible from late afternoon into the evening, the lighting installation has drawn visitors who pause to photograph the meeting of architecture and global K-pop iconography.
The partnership extends into the galleries themselves. Members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa recorded multilingual audio guides introducing eight national treasures housed at the museum.
Delivered in Korean and English, with Lisa’s Thai version to premier in March, the narration covers artifacts such as the famed Gilt-bronze Pensive Bodhisattva and a white porcelain moon jar, offering international fans a new gateway into Korea’s traditional arts and history.
Members of BLACKPINK perform during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., in April 2023. The group incorporated traditional Korean architectural motifs into its stage production. Courtesy of YG Entertainment
The initiative aligns with BLACKPINK’s broader track record of integrating traditional Korean aesthetics onstage. From modernized hanbok (traditional Korean attire) styling in the “How You Like That” (2020) music video to Korean architectural motifs as background during its 2023 Coachella performance, the quartet has repeatedly placed heritage within pop frameworks.
At the NMK, that dialogue unfolds in physical space. Ancient inscriptions and digital projections coexist with amplified beats, while a venue built to preserve the past pulses with present-day spectacle.
The collaboration highlights a shifting dynamic where heritage is not just confined behind glass. In conversation with global pop, it can also feel immediate, immersive and newly alive.
