The Seoul Museum of Crafts and Design and the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 16 will hold an international symposium in Seoul to promote the joint inscription of Asian lacquerware culture on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Shown is lacquerware displayed at the exhibition "Lacquer – From Lacquer Trees to Lacquer" that opened at the museum last year on June 27. (Museum's official Facebook page)

By Uyen Nguyen

Eight Asian countries including Korea are seeking to jointly register their lacquerware culture on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Seoul Museum of Crafts and Arts and the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 9 announced their hosting on June 16 of an international symposium in Seoul on the joint nomination of their lacquerware culture for UNESCO status.

Experts from eight Asian countries including Korea, Vietnam, Japan and China at the event will share the status of lacquerware transmission in their countries and cover the specific directions for the joint listing.

Lacquerware is a traditional craft and lifestyle that produces creations using the sap of the lacquer tree. Despite its excellent artistic value, the art form faces a critical juncture in preservation due to the decline in the number of skilled practitioners and changes in the industrial environment.

For that reason, the eight countries will conduct joint research and form an expert network under the goal of devising a joint nomination strategy. They will prepare the application from 2027-28 and submit a joint application to UNESCO in 2029.

After the symposium, participants from June 17-18 will visit Korea's lacquerware hubs of Wonju, Gangwon-do Province, and Namwon, Jeollabuk-do Province, to attend expert workshops and exchange programs. They will also go to sites of the production and transmission over generations of lacquerware while continuing working-level consultations.

"This symposium is an opportunity to shed light on lacquerware culture from the perspective of a cultural heritage long shared across Asia," museum director Kim Soo Jung said. "We will maintain international cooperation to promote joint listings and preserve traditional techniques."

Poster for international symposium "Lacquer Culture as a Shared Heritage of Asia" (Seoul Metropolitan City)