Korean handicrafts shinned at Milan's recently finished Design Week.

Milanese, known for their refined sense of fashion and the arts, flocked to a special exhibit that highlighted a range of handcrafted works of art.

The “Constancy and Change (법고창신, 法古創新) in Korean Traditional Crafts 2015” exhibition was held as part of the city’s Design Week festival from April 14 to 19. It brought together designs for fashion, electronics, vehicles and communication devices from around the world.

The exhibition was designed to shed new light on the value of traditions found in handicrafts and their existence in modern society.





Marking its third year this year, the show brought to light a total of 192 pieces created by 23 artists in six categories, each of them showing their own restrained beauty and artistry, under the theme of “Simple, Calm and Subtle.”

“The works of art showcased in this exhibition give us a glimpse into how our artists bring out the present from tradition, merging the classical beauty of traditional crafts with modern aesthetic sensibilities,” said creative director Park Ryu-sook.




Major metal works included a brass kettle, lacquered brassware, a silver inlaid brazier and metal boxes. The ceramics section included jars, pagodas and white porcelain bowls.

The paper crafts section included "woven" paper jars and kites made of traditional Hanji mulberry paper. In the textiles section, patchwork wrappers and traditional quilted clothes, known as nubi, showed off their simple and refined beauty.

Among the bamboo works of art, there was a set of woven screens, known as bal. The lacquerware on display included dry lacquered bowls and lacquered bowls inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

This year’s exhibition was once again designed and directed by the architectural firm Origoni & Steiner Studio, as it was last year. The firm turns the exhibition into a venue where one can find both modern and traditional aspects of Korean art, by looking at the traditional living spaces presented here.

“Hopefully, this exhibition will help lay a firm foundation to allow our great handicrafts to reach a wider audience outside of Korea,” said an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

By Wi Tack-whan, Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr