Inside TAEMIN: Performer. Artist. Icon. the first GRAMMY Museum Display Dedicated to a K-pop Solo Artist
- Christine Terrisse
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Christine Terrisse Photo by Rebecca Rowe and Courtesy of the Recording Academy™️/photo by Rebecca Sapp, Getty Images© 2026
| GRAMMY Museum Curator Kelsey Goelz talks about what it took to bring the museum’s first Kpop soloist-centered exhibit to life.
It’s the Tuesday after TAEMIN’s history-making set at Coachella and the legendary K-pop performer and member of SHINee is visiting the GRAMMY Museum, taking in the two displays dedicated to his singular artistry for the first time.
Located on the fourth floor of the museum behind a row of historic GRAMMY trophies are two display cases which until recently displayed items dedicated to Janet Jackson.
One display contains an all-white crushed velvet outfit, leather boots with an embroidered cross in the center and a pair of smaller ones on the sleeves Like Madonna, TEAMIN has frequently referenced Catholic symbolism in his stage style choices.
He wore the outfit during performances over the “Veil” arena tour over the past two years, a concert that alludes to “hidden truths and reality.” The display case also contains an in-ear monitor, silver microphone and white leather boots along with the poster for the tour.
The second case contains a jacket in a deep royal red with military-esque embellishment, with flowy distressed elements in the blouse underneath contrasting with a black harness; a staple of K-pop costume iconography, elevated.
This outfit was worn on TAEMIN’s largest tour to date: “The Ephemeral Gaze World Tour.” The display also contains TAEMIN’s signature lightstick and a handwritten note from the icon expressing his feelings surrounding the exhibit.
While TAEMIN was giving his first impressions to the media documenting the occasion, I spoke with Kelsey Golez, the GRAMMY Museum curator tasked with ensuring that the quality of the exhibit reflects the impact of the artist.
What were your initial thoughts when you first found out you would be bringing this exhibit to GRAMMY guests?
“We work with his team, and we love talking about Kpop here, because we have amazing Kpop fans show up for all of our public programs. So people are familiar with the public programs, but it's kind of like ‘come and stay for the museum.’ So a couple months ago, as he was gearing up for his big Coachella performance, we found out that artifacts were available and we thought we should definitely be a place where his fans can come while they're in Southern California.”
How did you decide what items to include?
“We actually worked with the team on that this time. Since he had just finished up some record breaking tours, we decided on some performance outfits from two of those past tours. So these are outfits that he wore in Vegas and on the Kelly Clarkson show, and in different performance settings.”
Did they give you an array of options?
“We wanted to highlight his performance style and his artistry. They picked the velvet one that's really detailed and the red one that has lots of cool accessories. And then we also wanted to show a handwritten note from him to show that connection to the fans, along with the light stick, and also his microphone in-ear, so you can see what he picks up and puts on when he goes out to perform.”
Is there a particular process you have to go through in terms of delivering, caring for and displaying these items?
“Everything here at the GRAMMY Museum is ‘white glove.’ It doesn't matter if it was worn to the GRAMMYS last night or if it was worn on stage 30 years ago, we treat it the same way. So everything is by white glove. Everything is documented, recorded and photographed, so that we know we're giving it back in the exact same state that we received it in. We check the light levels to make sure the lights aren't too much on the fabrics. You know, we have blinds up so the UV light doesn't come into play. We check temperatures and humidity. Anything that's made of paper is put on an acid-free board so it doesn't degrade over time. TAEMIN’s items are treated with just as much care as anything in this museum.”
What insights if any did you get from his team on the creative process behind some of the stage outfit choices?
“I think the main thing there is that everything in Kpop, including his work, is so high concept. So in the captions, you'll see that his creative director has, like, an inspirational sentence that describes the meaning of the outfit. And I just think that's so different from some of the Western artists I'm used to hearing like they just want to look really cool. This is so intentional in the story that the outfit tells. So I've always appreciated that.”
What is the most important thing for you to get across for guests who might not be familiar with the artist? What context do people come into the GRAMMY Museum and maybe come across an artist that they're not that familiar with, yeah, what context are you trying to provide for them?
“We love to show diverse backgrounds. So him being a Korean artist and being the first solo Korean male artist to take the Coachella stage; we love celebrating achievements.
We love celebrating diversity. We have a Latin artist [Selena Quintanilla] and Michael Jackson right next to TAEMIN, so all different types of people in L.A. can come here and feel represented, and feel their music taste represented. That's important. And then I think the second is the creative process. We want to show behind the scenes, and that's where I'm talking about his careers and his style choices, and show the intention behind the performance. We like to kind of unveil that so people can appreciate it even more.”
TAEMIN: Performer. Artist. Icon. is on display now until May 25, 2026. Tickets can be purchased at grammy.com. Related merchandise inspired by the display are available for purchase in the GRAMMY Museum lobby.
TAEMIN
