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What does BTS leader RM have in his art collection?

The K-pop rapper-songwriter will share his collection in a curated exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art next year

To take place from October 2026 to February 2027, the exhibition titled “RM x SFMOMA” will juxtapose his collection, built over several years, with the museum showcase.To take place from October 2026 to February 2027, the exhibition titled “RM x SFMOMA” will juxtapose his collection, built over several years, with the museum showcase. (Source: Instagram/SFMOMA)

Known to be a keen art connoisseur, South Korean K-pop group BTS leader RM (Kim Namjoon) will soon share his personal art collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

To take place from October 2026 to February 2027, the exhibition titled “RM x SFMOMA” will juxtapose his collection, built over several years, with the museum showcase. “We live in an age defined by boundaries. This exhibition at SFMOMA reflects those boundaries: between East and West, Korea and America, the modern and the contemporary, the personal and the universal. I don’t want to prescribe how these works should be seen; whether out of curiosity or study, all perspectives are welcome. My only hope is that this exhibition can be a small but sturdy bridge for many,” noted the South Korean rapper-songwriter in a social media post.

While it is believed that the influential artiste’s interest in art was piqued by museum visits during the group’s tours to the US and Europe, the upcoming exhibition will also see him turn curator, collaborating with SFMOMA museum curators América Castillo and Hyoeun Kim.

 

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On view will be 200 works, including those by Korean modern and contemporary artists such as Yun Hyong-keun, Kim Yun Shin, Park Rehyun, Sang Bong, Kwon Okyon and Chang Ucchin, among others. These will reportedly be paired with works from SFMOMA’s collection by US and European artists, including Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe and Paul Klee, as well as Korean abstractionist Kim Whanki. “… offering a rare chance to see modern Korean artworks in conversation with contemporary artworks from around the world. Many of these artworks have never been exhibited to the public,” stated SFMOMA in a note.

The rapper-singer has supported several art initiatives in the past. While his first album Indigo (2022) was dedicated to late Korean painter Yun Hyong-keun, in 2021, RM donated 100 million Korean Won to the Overseas Cultural Heritage Foundation to help restore and preserve Korean cultural assets abroad, including a Joseon Dynasty hwarot (bridal robe) at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

In 2022, he filmed a live performance at the Dia Beacon art museum in the US, highlighting works by artists such as Robert Irwin, John Chamberlain, Richard Serra, and Dan Flavin.

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

 

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