By Kim Tae Won and Kim Young Shin
Photos = Heo Manjin, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The 2017 10th Cheongju Craft Biennale, featuring works of art from 18 nations, had its opening ceremony on Sept. 13 kicking off its 40-day run.

Four Korean composers and six performance artists played music that expressed the essence of the craftworks exhibited at the Global Pavilion. The works were from nine different countries, including Germany, Finland and Singapore, and there were songs, theatrical plays, traditional and modern dance, and calligraphy.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jongwhan delivered the congratulatory address to an audience that included authorities from Wuhan, in Hubei Province in China, a sister city to Cheongju, and some 1,000 craft artists who were participating in the event. “Craft arts are great legacies of humanity that connect the past and the present,” he said. “Craft arts are also evidence of the general and aesthetic activities of a nation. Artists from home and abroad communicate here at the Cheongju Craft Biennale and pave the way for craft art to become popular and globalized. I hope you have many cherished moments here, through which you'll be able to feel the value and beauty of traditional arts through craftworks.”



The Cheongju Craft Biennale, under the theme this year of “Hands+ Embrace,” exhibits some 4,000 works of art by 780 artists from 18 nations, including Korea, Switzerland and Italy, and it runs until Oct. 22.

There are also hands-on booths where visitors can create their own craftworks, and there's a craft fair where some works are for sale.

Please visit the link below for more information.
http://www.okcj.org/

twkim0717@korea.kr