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Korean Sculpture
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Korea's Main Page
In the fifty years since liberation, Korean crafts have experienced significant change as they passed over the threshold to the modern world. In the 1950s, university crafts departments were established amid the rubble of the Korean War. These new departments naturally took their place within general arts departments which were organized around painting and sculpture. Traditionally, Korean crafts had developed within a teacher/disciple relationship, but as crafts entered universities, scholars of traditional crafts began to provide systematic education that reflected the major trends of modern craftmanship.
Needless to say, modern art studies from this era were based on Western aesthetic values introduced via Japan and Japanese artistic sensibilities. This alienation from traditional Korean artistic values largely resulted from the misconception that "Western" was synonymous with "modern."
1) With the introduction of industrial design in the 1950s, handicrafts' social role was reduced. The era is characterized by the creation of a national crafts department, the founding of various organizations devoted to traditional crafts and an increase in popularity of special regional goods. In particular, the struggle between leftist and rightist political factions splintered the native crafts movement into over ten distinct craft organizations.
Leading figures of the national exhibition, initially known as the Kukchon and as the Sonjon during the Japanese occupation, include woodwork craftsmen such as Kim Chin-gap, Kang Ch'ang-gyu and Chang Ki-myong, stoneworkers such as Yi Sun-sok and potters such as Kim Chae-sok.
2) The 1960s saw the development of a number of important galleries such as The Design Center, Taehan Min-guk Sanggong Misuljon and Kungnip Hyondae Misulgwan. During this era, there were numerous foreign exhibitions and international exchanges and thus the era is characterized by the rapid expansion of Korean craft production. Each year, there were about ten private and group exhibitions and around ten new craft organizations were formed.
One of the most important developments during this decade was the gradual reemergence of metalcraft and pottery from the stagnation of the previous decade.
This renewed interest was stimulated by increased information on Western crafts.
3) During the 1970s, there was a new interest in all aspects of traditional Korean culture. Systematic efforts were made to preserve and develop traditional crafts, many of which had previously been on the verge of disappearing in the wake of modernization. In order to preserve traditional knowledge, the government gave talented artisans official support, designating them as "Important Intangible Cultural Treasures" or "Human Culture Treasures." Around this time, the mother-of-pearl artist Kim Pong-nyong and lacquerware artist Kang Ch'ang-gyu both established galleries for traditional works.
Another important development during the 1970s was the creation of private crafts exhibitions at galleries. This stemmed from attempts to incorporate traditional crafts into the formative arts. Pottery was a leading force behind this movement.
Influenced by American and Japanese pottery, Korean potters began to experiment with non-functional pottery forms. This purely formal emphasis had entered the mainstream by the late 1980s.
4) Since the 1980s, formalism has become a leading influence on Korean craftwork.
Initially, there were a few textile and pottery craftsmen experimenting with formal works, but by the late 1980s, the trend has swept through every traditional genre. In addition to individual artists, universities were influenced by this trend, leading to the development of curriculums teaching the techniques and theory behind formal art. Yet, as interest turned towards purely formal works, there was less interest in making traditional crafts for practical, everyday use.
From the mid-1980s to around 1990, on the other hand, various artists and groups began to take express an interest in a revival of works more suitable for everyday life. In the mid-1980s, college craft majors established small studios where they produced and supplied everyday items appealing to a wide spectrum of society. In the 1990s, exhibitions began to appear in which the theme was practical. This new trend had a significant effect on artists preoccupied with solely formalistic works. In the 1980s this movement was chiefly centered around young artists in training, but by the 1990s, the movement had matured, with many prominent artists joining its ranks.
As it comes to the late 1990s, the purely formalistic movement seems to be faltering, while the movement towards practical crafts seems to be gaining wide support from consumers and cultural circles.
Information provided by the Korean Embassy