We live in an era where various discourses on crafts are held. The more you know, the deeper you go, and the more difficult it is to discuss crafts. Crafts reflect the times and represent local culture, so a journey is needed to find meaning in more than just commercially made objects. The exhibition will feature 14 national intangible cultural heritage holders, traditional educationists, two municipal and provincial intangible cultural heritage holders, and nine modern artists to think about the value of crafts that represent our lives in the past, present, and future.
Gaemulseongmu, is a four-character idiom that implies the mindset of our ancestors in creating civilization, meaning, "It realizes the reason of all things that humans have not yet known and makes the world happen."
Before industrialization, our ancestors created the foundation of our lives with wisdom from nature. These days, I can feel how noble the ancestors' mindset about nature and things in creating oil from nothing must have been. It is essential to look back in the past at what techniques were used in daily life and to value these cultural heritage holders to pass down their techniques to the present era. We live in a time of loss and a flood of beauty. Why don't we take a step back from the convenience of civilization created by technology and speed and listen more to the pure logic of the things made in the past? The preface to the exhibition begins with the question, so what is the value of craftsmanship?
If cultural assets from the preservation perspective can be converted into a future-oriented idea of "where it began and what it will be," not a decisive notion in the past of "what it is," it will bring crafts to a more advanced modern point of view. The pace of technology development is so fast that I'm wondering if we're benefiting from it or if we are in a hurry to keep up with it. We need time to think to ask a question and find an answer. The time of thought can start with the spare space of life in a slow paste or the patience of our ancestors who had to wait for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The patience our ancestors had to create something is what we should keep in mind to value the meaningful Korean crafts that will continue in the future.
