Cultural Institutes Abroad in the 21st Century: The Case of The Korean Cultural Centre UK

South Korea's global network of politically arms-length Korean Cultural Centres (KCCs) represents an interesting divergence from the dominant neo-liberal cultural practices of recent decades which give preference to market-led rather than policy-led curatorial decision-making. Operating alongside the global commercial success of K-pop and the broader Korean Wave, KCCs play an active, hitherto under-investigated, role in the promotion of Korean culture abroad. The present paper draws on a case study of the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) to explore the ways in which cultural institutes abroad in the 21st century engage in cross-cultural collaborations with local partners such as venues, artists, curators, media, and audiences. We used field observations, interviews, and an audience survey (total n=101) to analyze 54 collaborative events between the KCCUK and the UK partners over an eighteen-month season in 2017-18. Our findings show that "Ambiguities," "Challenges," and "Tensions" are recurring themes arising from cultural and managerial differences and future cross-cultural collaborations need to pay extra attention to these three areas. The teaching notes provide detailed instructions for designing a session for undergraduate-level students.