Writing & Photo by the Korean Intangible Cultural Heritage Promotion Center, Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation

Featured Special

Development History of Traditional Crafts From 2007 to 2019

With the opening of Korea House (2000) and the Korea Traditional Culture Experience Center of Incheon Airport (2009), the Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (CHF) was required to develop crafts that would be sufficiently profitable, while having the cultural features of Korean traditional art, for the protection of the country’s national heritage and the securing of financial resources. The craft products that incorporated Korea’s traditional designs started to be launched in 2007. Although its history of over a decade, or 13 years, is relatively short, the CHF’s development of craft supplies can be summarized as follows. It can be divided into 4 phases, based on the government’s support of cultural heritage programs and the CHF’s approach to rebuilding the inherent traditional and culture elements for each period.

“Introduction” Phase (2007-2010)

From Miniatures to Packages Assembling the ”League of Extraordinary Designers”

After recognizing the importance of preserving the country’s cultural heritage, the CHF created its own design studio, including a Chief Manager and three other designers, in 2007. This took place even before the introduction of the Craft Culture Industry system for developing and supplying traditional cultural products, which was reorganized to include a Design Team and a Product Development Team. The aim of the studio was to broaden the scope of Korea’s cultural goods by developing various products that would encompass them, ranging from luxury items that express the essence of high-end royal culture to ordinary items that can be used in daily life. From 2007 to 2010, the studio actively developed many products such as monument/memorial replica miniatures, traditional craft goods, national memorial souvenirs and packages. The high-quality signature products developed by the studio, intended to establish the CHF and to promote Korean traditional culture, contributed to building an antique design infrastructure. Nowadays, the design studio has become one of the main departments and the foundation to demonstrate the CHF’s capabilities for participating in the designs of cultural convenience facilities. Examples of its achievement since 2009 include the Chwiseongwan Building of Korea House, the Korea Traditional Culture Experience Center of Incheon Airport, and other events/facilities.

“Growth” Phase (2011-2014)

Collaboration with Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), GD Certification and Awards Qualitative Growth in the Development of Craft Items

The CHF’s product development project grew rapidly, leading to the Korean traditional design phase in only three years, despite the country’s short history of using its living heritage compared to other pioneers, such as Italy, France, Spain, German and Japan. A more efficient approach was attempted in the field of heritage design from 2014, in accordance with the design development guidelines created on the basis of a systematically constructed database and an extensive analysis, but first and foremost, with sense and sensibility. The new lineup was released that included various items that could be useful in real life (e.g. glasses, pouches), made through a modern approach to tradition, such as by employing traditional metalworking techniques integrated with novel materials (e.g. carbon), as well as combining crafts collaborated with the living heritage. 5 types of palace glyph glasses, developed in 2014, won the PIN UP Design Award (Economy Chosun’s Choice) in a fierce international competition. Meanwhile, the smart pouch and carbon wallet, made with the traditional metalworking techniques, were chosen by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) as Good Design Products and acquired GD certification. The goal for the high quality progress of craft development was successfully achieved.

“Expansion” Phase (2015-2018)

Public-Private Cooperation & Design Rights Cultural Goods with Higher Social Utility and Greater Competitiveness

A new approach was needed as more Korean ICHs began to be inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. This approach combined tradition and modern technology in the product development, as well as securing design competitiveness through the protection of the designs for the developed goods. By establishing cooperative arrangements between public and private sectors, the CHF actively introduced living heritages and collaboration projects with important ICH holders to the development, production and sales of craft products. Specific examples of the CHF’s programs for the living heritages, in order to enhance their social utility and to promote the commercialization of cultural heritage items, include a development project of the heritage temple goods for the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism in 2017. A medal celebrating the 600th Anniversary of the accession of King Sejong was developed for the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation in 2018, with Worincheongangjigok (“Songs of the Moon's Reflection on a Thousand Rivers”: Joseon's first book printed in Hangeul) as the design concept; as well as a collaboration with an artisan for the reproduction of traditional metal movable-types. Antique chests were developed in 2015/2016 as collaboration projects with important ICH holders, supported by Vacheron Constantin, which were based on folk art, traditional metalworking, philosophy and traditional Korean thoughts. The special exhibitions of the National Palace Museum of Korea also resulted in beautiful collaboration items developed by the CHF in 2016 (“Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty”), 2017 (“The Wrapping Practice of the Joseon Royal Household”, “The Return of the Royal Seals”, and “Mural Paintings of Huijeongdang Hall in Changdeokgung Palace”) and in 2018 (“The Birth of a Royal Baby in the Joseon Dynasty”). Other practical goods, such as name tags, diaries, planners, name card holders, LED frames and hairpins, were also made by incorporated the CHF’s cultural contents, such as the changing of the royal guards ceremony at Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Moonlight Tour at Changdeokgung Palace.

“Mature” Phase (2019-

Royal Culture Festival, New Year Celebrations with the Royal Guards and Moonlight Tour Enhancing Product Planning and the Development of Designs with Traditional Content

26 types of goods, divided into 17 categories, have been newly developed by the CHF for five major cultural events of the CHF, including the Royal Culture Festival taking place from Apr. 27, 2019 to May 5, 2019 at the five palaces of the Joseon Dynasty and Jongmyo Shrine. The new lineup involves 17 types of promo items (divided into 11 categories) for the CHF’s cultural content, and 9 types of design goods (divided into 6 categories), as follows. The former category includes: (1) items representing the New Year celebrations with the royal guards, such as parking notice boards, bookmarks and phone grips, with Gyeongbokgung Palace where ceremony of the changing of the royal guards takes place as the design motif; (2) goods for the Royal Culture Festival, which is one of the most important cultural events for the CHF that involved 640,000 visitors over nine days in 2019 (15 million visitors are also expected by 2023), including lamps, mattress toppers, name tags and paper hats, which are designed with motifs and images of the main event spaces of each palace and are harmonized with emblems and typographs considering the features of the palaces and shrine; (3) promo items and giveaways, such as phone grips, for the new Cultural Heritage Channel with the unique characteristics of the Hangeul characters in Hunminjeongeum; (4) promo items for the Training Center for Important Intangible Cultural Properties, including tote bags as practical fashion items that express the features of the Living National Treasures with their textures and colors; and (5) 10-year Anniversary gifts for the Moonlight Tour at Changdeokgung Palace, including soaps and pouches that have been developed with a modern approach to the traditional images. Meanwhile, the latter category includes: (1) folders and sticky notes with the motifs of the Independent Newspaper and Taegeukgi, celebrating the year 2019 and marking the 100th Anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement, a mass demonstration of Korean resistance against Japanese colonial rule which began on March 1st, 1919 with a reading of Korea’s “Proclamation of Independence”; (2) DIY paper hat crafts, which have been developed with motifs of the hats for royal gatekeepers and are easy-to-make for anyone who visits the palaces; and (3) palace umbrellas for visitors in preparation for rain showers, which are designed based on the superstation that a tiger is getting married when it starts raining on a sunny day, as well as quilts and handheld fans with a renewed design. By actively promoting public-private partnerships, the CHF is supporting vulnerable intangible cultural properties and is developing goods in collaboration with important ICH holders, such as Hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) skins for game characters with the cooperation of Riot Games (a company famous for League of Legends).