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Master Artisan Choi Mun-jeong Expands Dancheong's Boundaries with Student Exhibition
🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Master Artisan Choi Mun-jeong Expands Dancheong's Boundaries with Student Exhibition

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • A master artisan, Choi Mun-jeong, is showcasing the art of Dancheong, traditional Korean decorative coloring, through an exhibition featuring her students.
  • The exhibition, titled 'Choi Dan, the Best Dancheong,' highlights Choi's work, including a piece inspired by the Sungnyemun gate.
  • Choi, a recognized inheritor of the Dancheong tradition, is preparing for a final assessment to become a designated holder of the intangible cultural heritage.

Master artisan Choi Mun-jeong views her students as her teachers, a sentiment she expressed during the recent exhibition 'Choi Dan, the Best Dancheong.' Held at the National Intangible Heritage Center in Seoul, the exhibition spotlighted the intricate world of Dancheong, the traditional Korean decorative coloring used on wooden buildings.

My students are my teachers.

— Choi Mun-jeongExpressing her gratitude and admiration for her students' involvement in the exhibition.

Choi, a 58-year-old inheritor-instructor of Dancheong, collaborated with ten of her students for the exhibition. She conveyed her surprise and gratitude for their enthusiastic participation. Choi herself became an inheritor-instructor in 2008 and is currently preparing for an upcoming assessment that could designate her as a holder of this significant cultural heritage.

The students who actively participated in the exhibition were surprising and I was grateful.

— Choi Mun-jeongReflecting on the exhibition and her students' contributions.

A standout piece in the exhibition is Choi's 'Sungnyemun Medicine Chest.' She spent over a decade conceptualizing the chest, eventually realizing its architectural resemblance to traditional Korean structures. "The medicine chest's shape resembled a building, with eaves and the 'ikgong' supporting brackets," Choi explained. The chest's six drawers also correspond to the six traditional Dancheong colors: jangdan, samcheong, yellow, green, yuksaek, and seokganju.

The medicine chest's shape resembled a building, with eaves and the 'ikgong' supporting brackets.

— Choi Mun-jeongDescribing the inspiration and architectural parallels found in her 'Sungnyemun Medicine Chest' artwork.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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