RM’s SFMOMA Exhibition Draws 10,000-Person Waitlist as Korean Art Demand Surges

RM’s first museum exhibition as a curator has not yet opened to the general public, but its impact is already extending beyond the galleries at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me opens October 3 following member previews this week. The exhibition brings together 142 works from RM’s personal collection and 36 from SFMOMA, spanning Korean and international art across eight themed galleries. SFMOMA director Christopher Bedford described it as the largest presentation of Korean art in the museum’s 91-year history.

Demand emerged well before opening day. According to Maeil Business Newspaper, the waitlist reached roughly 10,000 people when tickets became available, while SFMOMA confirms that its October 1–3 member previews sold out. The museum’s opening weekend is also sold out, although tickets remain available for later dates.

That attention is extending into Korean cultural merchandise.

The National Museum Foundation of Korea exported approximately $110,000 worth of MU:DS products for sale alongside the exhibition, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. The foundation says it is the largest single export order to an overseas museum in its history. The shipment includes 39 types of products inspired by Korean cultural heritage, including miniature Pensive Bodhisattva figures, moon jars, celadon and mother-of-pearl lacquerware.

The order is 71 percent larger than the foundation’s combined $64,000 in merchandise exports tied to last year’s Smithsonian exhibition of works donated by late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee.

SFMOMA is seeing unusually heavy demand for the exhibition’s own merchandise as well. Its museum store temporarily paused online preorders after receiving thousands of orders within the first few hours of sales opening. Limited merchandise remains available in person while the store works through existing orders.

The response gives Between You and Me a significance beyond RM’s previously announced curatorial debut. What began as an exhibition of his private collection is now producing measurable demand around Korean art and cultural products at a major U.S. museum — offering an early indication of how an audience built through K-pop can move into a different cultural space.

The exhibition runs at SFMOMA through February 7, 2027.