Park Yeon-ok, CEO of the Jeo-Jip chopsticks gallery in Buam-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, says that chopsticks are culture.

For many people, chopsticks and spoons are key utensils in Korean cuisine and dining culture. Although there are no documented records of when people started using chopsticks, the National Museum of Korea has a collection of bronze chopsticks used during Goryeo times (918-1392). As time went by, the materials used to make chopsticks, and their various shapes, have underwent changes again and again. There are also many opinions and theories about chopstick use, or jeotgarakjil, the art of using chopsticks. The general public, however, doesn't think of chopstick use as an art or as an important part of their life. They only think of chopsticks as a necessity for everyday life.



Park is helping to make chopsticks an element of high culture.

"I want chopsticks to come up in peoples' minds when they think of Korea," says Park.

When planning to open Jeo-Jip, Park wanted to make it a space -- not just a gallery -- to promote Korean arts and traditions, even though it was small. She wanted everything about the gallery, including its location, exterior and interior, its windows, props and the location of chopsticks in the displays, to make visitors feel the essence of Korean culture. When creating the gallery's name, she not only referred to jeo (箸), meaning "chopsticks," but also to jeo, meaning "to use in a humble manner." Hence, the name Jeo-Jip.



Jeo-jip is located on a hillside in Buam-dong in a neighborhood surrounded by Inwangsan Mountain. The gallery is located on the ground floor, slightly lower than its surroundings. Visitors to the gallery will be greeted by chopsticks placed on small traditional dining tables located in the middle of the gallery.

Looking closely at the chopsticks, naturally showing off Korea's dinning traditions, visitors will see the various shapes and colors of the chopsticks varnished wih lacquer. The chopsticks show off a trifling but gentle beauty. What is notable among them are the chopsticks whose ends have been decorated with mother-of-pearl. President Park Geun-hye gives sets of chopsticks produced by Jeo-Jip as presents when she makes official visits overseas.



"I wanted to display the beauty of mother-of-pearl in a set of chopsticks, just one among the many beautiful crafts that represent traditional Korea," said Park. "It was difficult to persuade a mother-of-pearl master craftsman to work with me, but I am proud that I can show off Korea's beauty."

"Many aspects of traditional Korean culture have harmony between the yin and the yang, and have different meanings. Even every small prop has this same harmony. I wanted to let the world know about Korean arts and traditions embedded in our chopsticks."

By Jeon Han, Limb Jae-un
Photos: Jeon Han
Korea.net Staff Writers
hanjeon@korea.kr