Journey through Korea, 002

We had the pleasure of visiting the Seoul Museum of Craft Art this year. The site of the museum has a deep historical root as it is the center of Jongnogu where master artisans of the royal palace in the Joseon era (“gyeonggongjang”) produced crafts.

Connecting the dots back to the present time, this is where the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize held its 2022 exhibition last summer, presenting a thought provoking selection of works that infuse contemporary updates into centuries-old tradition. As fond admirers of fine craftsmanship in ceramics, woodwork and textiles and, we enjoyed browsing through the museum’s permanent as well as temporary exhibitions. In particular, we appreciated how the museum has done a marvelous job of explaining in both words and visuals the process through which each artisan creates/created their work.

P.S. Buncheong stools that look like pebble stones, as seen in the cover image, crafted by artisan Kang Hyo Lee are not just for display but are meant to practically serve for sitting. This is in accordance with the simplified definition of crafts as “beautiful functional objects”.

Note, images include last year’s exhibit as well.