Conversations on Craft

Korean Craft and Design facilitates creative exchange between Korean designers and makers and their international counterparts. One of the inaugural pairs was Australian designer Henry Wilson and woodworker Jungjoo Im, both of whom are concerned with form in their work. Im’s Noneloquent project (pictured) is a challenge to the tradition of making objects purely for function

K oreanculture is enjoying unprecedented attention on the global stage, from cinema and music to style and cuisine. Its storied yet oft overlooked craft and design culture, however, has yet to receive major international attention. Hyo Jung Lee, a Zurich- and London-based South Korean art director and graphic designer, wants to change that.

In 2020, Lee launched Korean Craft and Design ( koreancraft-design.com), an online repository for stories of the country's artisans and their techniques. The website represents a rare English-language resource on the topic, with the site currently divided into two sections: artisans' dialogues and a guide to age-old traditional craft techniques. But instead of interviewing the artisans herself, Lee decided to invite wellrespected international designers to have a conversation with their Korean counterparts, creating a space for the experts to bounce around ideas freely.

So far, participants of published dialogues include the likes of Ryutaro Yoshida, the Tokyo-based co-founder of Japanese furniture company Time & Style, who spoke to Jong Duk Lee, an artisan skilled in the traditional brassware technique of bangjja; Australian industrial designer Henry Wilson and woodworker Jungjoo Im; and Jenni Roininen, creative director of Finnish furniture brand Nikari with woodworker and furniture designer Won Deok Kwon. ‘ The non-Korean artists bring such freshness to the topic,' Lee says. ‘They don't know Korean craft well, so they're naturally curious.' The website is updated monthly with a new dialogue between an international designer and a Korean artisan, and Lee has plans to publish a book on the subject and launch a related retail platform.

Lee moved to Amsterdam as a child, growing up in international school circles. She moved around Europe, spending periods living and working in Stockholm and London, but she says her curiosity about her homeland's culture was constant, and the lack of English-language information proved a frustration. In 2020, Lee's new work from home routine meant she saved two hours on her daily commute, time she dedicated to creating the Korea Craft and Design platform.

‘When I was younger, people would say, “Japan is minimalist, in China everything is grand and massive, but what's so special about Korea?”' she recalls. One reason for the relative lack of international recognition is the artisans' insularity, and Lee notes that some of the craftspeople were apprehensive about the project. ‘Artisans don't like international publicity, insisting the know-how remains in Korea and among its people,' says metalworker Jong Duk Lee. Even within the country, he says, artisans prefer to remain isolated in their workshops, without engaging with the artistic community. ‘We used to think that if the knowledge spread overseas, it would be like betraying our country,' he says, lamenting that many traditions are already lost or at risk of extinction.

Ryutaro Yoshida, who himself has worked with hesitant artisans in his own country — encouraging them to apply their craft to contemporary design — says the renewed interest in traditional craft in recent years is a positive sign, which could snowball into a movement to revive the crafts, learn traditional techniques and create new products from them. ‘It's important for both the craftspeople and outsiders to make an effort to find new ways that traditional craftspeople cannot find, in a cooperative relationship that creates new uses and forms while preserving the essence of traditional techniques,' he says.