Korean Cultural Institute Opens in Rome with 2,200 sqm Near MACRO

On October 26, the Korean Cultural Institute will open in Rome, occupying 2,200 square meters of a Liberty-style building on Via Nomentana, near the MACRO museum. The institute, directed by Lee Soo Myoung with a staff of six, is a major investment by the South Korean government to promote Korean culture in Italy. The space includes offices, exhibition areas, conference rooms, a suspended garden, and a fully equipped cooking school. The inaugural exhibitions feature a reinstallation of the Korean pavilion from the last Milan Triennale and an outdoor show by sculptor Park Eun Sun (born 1965), who lives and works in Pietrasanta. The institute is administered by the Korean Embassy in Italy and depends on the Ministry of Culture. Rome remains a global hub for foreign cultural institutes, with academies from Germany, France, Austria, Japan, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Belgium, the United States, Brazil, and Spain, though recent parliamentary questions in France have questioned continued investment in Villa Medici amid Rome's perceived cultural marginalization.