Installations of Korean textile ‘Bojagi’ displayed in Hanoi

Patchworks, printing on ramie fabric

Nearly 50 patchworks by artist Lee Sung Soon from the Republic of Korea (RoK) representing Korean textile Bojagi (traditional wrapping cloths once used in formal ceremonies and daily activities) are on display at an exhibition opened on May 9 in Hanoi.

Inspired by Bojagi art, Lee has found her own way to interpret the tradition as a modern arts subject through installation artworks using ramie fabric with weaving techniques and simple designs, then framing and exhibiting them.

The concept of her work originates from the word “seon”, which evokes a host of like-sounding words in Korean. The artist collects numerous threads to weave a cloth and makes it into an amazing artwork, taking the audience into a new space within the existing one.

Therefore, in her patchwork, a line links with another line that then links with others, finally extending to Zen. In the world of these endless linked lines, the artist ultimately wants to tell a story about Zen.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Lee Sung Soon expressed her delight at introducing the art of textile imbued with the Korean tradition of Bujagi to Vietnamese people.

She hoped that the exhibition will help revive the tradition, industry and art of fabric and textile in Vietnam and RoK, which have been preserved and upheld for a long time in the two countries.

Park Nark-jong, Director of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam, the event’s organiser, said that the exhibition was designed to provide Vietnamese people with a new approach to fabric and textile as they are used as a theme of the exhibition.

He also shared that in the Korea artists and artisans today are exploring textile and fabric in a modern way, using their creativity to lift the material into high artistic quality products of the Korean textile and garment industry.

“Since most young Vietnamese students now know about Korean culture through films and music, I think the exhibition provides us with a new and interesting angle on Korean culture,” said Huong, a second-year student from Academy of Journalism and Communication.

The exhibition is part of the Next Expert Training project co-hosted by RoK Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Arts Business Supporting Centre, which aims to promote Korean arts and culture to other nations.

It runs until May 15, 49 Nguyen Du street, Hai Ba Trung district in Hanoi.

Source: ND

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