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| A variety of "gat," a type of traditional Korean hat, and strings of the hat from the Joseon era are displayed at the Seoul Museum of Craft Art in Jongno District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
People admire the beauty of craftworks, but they rarely appreciate the artisans who turn materials obtained from nature into useful objects for daily life.
The Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCA), which had its official opening on Tuesday, is dedicated to both the craftworks and the creators.
Korea's first public museum specializing in handcrafts opened on the site of the former Pungmoon Girls' High School in Jongno District, central Seoul, near Insa-dong.
Before the official opening on Tuesday, the museum was partially accessible to visitors by offering an exhibition that opened in July.
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| Kim Soo-jung, director of the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, speaks during an opening ceremony at the auditorium of the museum in Jongno District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
"It is a museum that illuminates the beauty and value of craftworks that naturally permeated into everyday life, and people did not even know if they were art," she said.
She said she and her staff want the museum to connect the past and the present through craftworks.
"You can see everything from the Neolithic period to today's craftworks in one place."
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| "Jeogori," a type of traditional Korean apparel, is on display at the Seoul Museum of Craft Art in Jongno District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
The exhibition that has been open since July has dealt with the history of handicrafts from ancient to modern times under the theme of "Artisans ― Making the Better World."
This theme demonstrates the purpose of the museum, according to Koh Mi-kyung, a curator at SeMoCA.
"The theme of the exhibition was borrowed from a journal of a potter during the Joseon era, which said that artisans' hard work benefits the world," Koh said.
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| A "baekja" (white porcelain jar) is on display at the Seoul Museum of Craft Art in Jongno District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
"This theme shows exactly what the museum wants to pay attention to, through its historical exhibition," she said.
Other museum exhibitions mainly focus on the aesthetic value of the finished craftworks, while SeMoCA pays more attention to the process of making them and the craftsmen who completed the aesthetic, Koh added.
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| Various "norigae," Korean traditional ornaments, are displayed at the Seoul Museum of Craft Art in Jongno District, Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Bahk Eun-ji |
In the first part of the newly opened exhibition, visitors can see the craftworks of the ancient period to the 918-1392 Goryeo Kingdom, under the theme of "From nature to crafts ― artisans create traditions of handicrafts." The second part features works from the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom.
The two parts introduce how people processed materials obtained from nature and developed techniques to make handicrafts ― earth for earthenware to Goryeo celadon, metal for metal craftworks, and wood and abalone shell for lacquerware. The raw materials are exhibited together with the craftworks to remind visitors of the development of the techniques.
The third part, under the theme "Craftworks open the door to modernity" deals with works of the Korean Empire, which Joseon called itself from 1897 to 1910, and the fourth part, "Craftworks illuminate the times," features works during the Japanese colonial period.
The two parts highlight the social role of craftworks in the eras where artisans worked more individually compared to the previous times when the state often managed such artisans.
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| The Seoul Museum of Craft Art building in Jongno District, Seoul / Korea Times photo by Bahk Eun-ji |
In addition to these, visitors can also see an exhibition of textile craftworks collected by Museum of Korean Embroidery director Heo Dong-hwa and his wife Park Young-sook, a master artisan of embroidery.
The museum operates a reservation system with a limit of 330 people per session. It is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closes every Monday and Jan. 1.
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