The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) presented the exhibition "Ten Contemporary Korean Women Artists" from May 21 to August 25, 1991. The show featured forty-eight works in various media that blend Eastern and Western techniques, highlighting modern visions rooted in ancient traditions. It was the first major exhibition of its kind in the United States, celebrating the achievements of Korean women artists, many of whom studied during the 1970s and 1980s—a period of artistic evolution, rapid economic development, and political unrest in Korea.
This exhibition matters because it brought long-overdue international attention to Korean women artists, whose contributions had been historically marginalized due to rigid social conventions that limited women's roles outside the home. By showcasing works that merge traditional craft with contemporary abstraction and figuration, the show underscored the resilience and innovation of these artists, while also illuminating the broader cultural and educational shifts that enabled women to pursue art in Korea after independence from Japan.