ByeokBong Korea Jewellry Museum of Heyri Art Village - by 조병운 Jo ByeongUn

We, the GEV Working Holiday participants,  visited ByeokBong Korea Jewellry Museum for our last project on August 29th. We already looked around inside of the museum before, but this time we learned and heard many things thanks to the director of the museum, ByeokBong Young Hee Kim.

Firstly, all the artwork in the museum are not originals,  but restorations or Mr. Kim’s  own creation. The museum has  space for making jewelry by one’s self. Secondly, Mr. Kim said he is proud of himself because he can help preserve Korean tradition.

Mr. Kim could have done different work which let him earn more money but he chose to focus on what he does now.  . What he really wants to say to others is that  even though world changes very fast, we should keep in mind who we are.

We were all  impressed by this because it is in line with the theme of the Working Holiday program, "Being a Global Individual". We could learn the importance of being ourselves in the global community once again from our visit to the museum.

The ByeokBong Korea Jewellry Museum is located on the 1st floor of building C04 on the Heyri Art Village map.

A Visit to Daily Life - Nature Dyeing Handicraft Workshop - by 송수민- Song Soo Min

We decided to visit Daily Life Handicraft Workshop because of the project of visiting of the art gallery in Heyri. As a writer of this project, I needed to memorise even minor things, and also needed to share a little bit more time with the owner and artist of the gallery.

At Daily Life, I was able to see something special that we cannot see in others places or in our daily lives the craft of natural dyeing. Normally, we are able to see so many dyed things in our daily life. However,  almost of every dyed thing we see is made in factory. At Daily Life, we were able to see the different type of dyeing skill. It was “Nature Dyeing Craft”.

The essence of the nature dyeing craft is the fact that we can make a colour a little bit  deeper  by spending more time and effort.. Even though sometimes the colour which is made by the crafter was a little bit dull or wishy-washy, we can still  use the dull or wishy-washy colour to make other artistic work. With the residue, we were able to make some more creative art work. Even more than ordinary art,  nature dyeing art focuses on the art of  making colours, so we can feel a thrill from the challenge of creating the right colour.  That is the essence of the nature dyeing craft.

According to Artist Kyeong Mi Son, the Daily Life art gallery is being expanded, so she expects that she will be able to share the essence of the nature dyeing craft with more people. I appreciate natural dyeing because, unlike chemically dyed things, it can be recycled effectively. Also, it is a very symbolic activity.   Because we cannot remove the stain easily, it reminds us of the trace of time; that everything we do remains behind us as time moves on and cannot be changed.

Sharing time with the artist Kyeong Mi Son, I felt coziness.  I also felt that making a work of art is similar to raising a child.  Artwork needs a lot of care and devotion. It takes time and effort to extract juice from fruits, and to dye the piece of cloth. For us, artistic work is not our part of our daily life, but we certainly need to acquire the knowledge of how to be diligent.

Visit to the Han Hyang Lim Ceramic Museum (Onggi Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art) in Heyri Art Village - by Kim JiSun

We, the GEV Working Holiday participants, visited the Han Hyang Lim Ceramic Museum. The Museum actually consists of two related museums in separate places. The Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art is for more modern and contemporary ceramic art. The Onggi Museum is for traditional ceramics of Korea.

We visited the Onggi Museum first. Even though it was our second time to visit the museum, the curator and director Han offered a lot new information about ceramics. 

Firstly, we learned that the shape of the ceramic pieces are different depending on the province in which they are made, as well as the purpose of the piece. Secondly, ceramics are used not only for potter, but also for many things line an alternative casket, or a memorial stone. Finally, we were most impressed that artisans had a lot of conversation with people who use pottery, so that the artist could create better ones. We could learn the importance of communication and cooperation from that. 

After visiting the Onggi Museum, we moved to the Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art. In that place, people can appreciate artwork made by famous artists like Picasso, as well as important Korean artists. On the 3rd floor, there is a place where people can make their own ceramic artwork as a souvenir.

After we visited Han Hyang Lim Ceramic Museum, we realized that the reasons why ceramics could exist for a long time, even though there are many other substitutes in modern times, are because of its timeless beauty and communication.

The Onggi Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art are located in buildings 2D and 2E on the Heyri Art Village map. Further information may be found at their website, www.heyrimuseum.com.