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Korean Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition in Scotland

An exhibition of contemporary Korean ceramics, featuring 33 works by 13 ceramists, opened on June 1 for a seven-month run in Edinburgh, Scotland. The works are arranged according to traditional finishing technique, with representative artists chosen accordingly.

An exhibition of contemporary Korean ceramics, featuring 33 works by 13 ceramists, opened on June 1 for a seven-month run in Edinburgh, Scotland, with Mark Jones, director of the National Museums of Scotland and Choi Sung-hong, Korean ambassador to Britain, among those attending the opening ceremony.

Edinburgh is a culturally rich and wonderfully charming old city with a population of some 409,000 and a long history of rivalry with England. Despite being united with England since 1707, Scotland in general and Edinburgh in particular have pursued a liberal cultural tradition quite different from that found south of the border, while the determination of the Scots to adhere to their own traditions is well reflected in the country? history of art and architecture, not the least of which is the imposing and impressive Edinburgh Castle itself.

Edinburgh, with its beautiful natural scenery and world-renowned international art festival, is a popular summer tourist destination, especially for art lovers. Last year the Korean musical group Nanta (Cookin? was invited to perform at this festival, where they were a big hit.

The Contemporary Korean Ceramics Exhibition will also run through this year? festival period, and as a result, the festival? many visitors will have the opportunity to view these Korean art works. The exhibit should also serve as a good start for a touring exhibition of North American cities which the Korea Foundation is planning to organize in the near future.

Curated by Jane Wilkinson, from the National Museums of Scotland, the works are arranged according to traditional finishing technique, with representative artists chosen accordingly. Artists in the sanggam inlaying category include Cho Chung-hyun and Koo Geoun-hwan; in the faceted surface category, Won Dai-chung and Kim Yik-yung; in the carving category, You Heh-ja, Roe Kyung-joe, and Lee Heui-bog; and in the punch?ng (white slip ware) technique category, Shin Sang-ho, Min Young-ki, Lee Soo-jong, Lee Wang-yong, Lee Kang-hyo, and Kim See-man.

The exhibition is being held in a special exhibition hall at the Ivy Wu Gallery of the National Museums of Scotland. At the entrance to the exhibit are information panels that explain the history and method of Korean ceramic-making, providing visitors with a basic introduction for better understanding of the exhibition.

In displaying contemporary ceramics alongside traditional Korean ceramics already housed in the Asian Gallery, the exhibit provides a rare opportunity to compare Korean ceramics past and present. The Korean collection in the Asian Gallery includes ch?ngja (Koryo blue celadon) and paekja (Choson white porcelain), as well as artifacts and clothing used by women during the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910). Because the collections of Chinese and Japanese artifacts in the Ivy Wu Gallery are vast, the Korean collection is often overlooked by visitors. One hopes this new exhibition helps to rectify this imbalance, even temporarily.

To mark the opening of the exhibition, the museum organized a slide lecture presented by Kim Yik-young as well as a workshop on punch?ng ware by Lee Kang-hyo, in cooperation with the Edinburgh College of the Arts and the Scottish Ceramic Artists Association.

This exhibition is the result of personal contacts and exchanges between artists and curators from Korea and Scotland, which thus serves as a reminder of the importance of cultivating personal relationships for international cultural exchange. The curator of the exhibition, Ms. Wilkinson, was one of five British curators invited to Korea last year by the British Council and the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism. While in Korea, Ms. Wilkinson attended a number of workshops, gathered much material, and had meetings with a number of Korean artists, all of which encouraged her to propose and organize this exhibition. Though she was only in Korea for a week, it seems this visit left her with a strong positive impression, and Ms. Wilkinson remarked that she would like to hold more exhibitions and events related to Korea in the future.

Despite the short amount of time available to prepare the exhibit, the show opened as planned due to the cooperative efforts of the artists and supporters of the project, not the least of whom were Ms. Wilkinson and Ms. Hwang Kyung-hee, a guest curator from Korea. The Contemporary Korean Ceramics Exhibition, partly funded by the British Visiting Arts program, is the result of many people? efforts, and it is hoped that large numbers of visitors will come to enjoy the featured art works over the coming months.

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