Craftworks were once at the margin of the art scene, but no longer. Today it stands at the front and center line in art galleries, museums, exhibitions, and fairs. Challenging traditional thinking of craft as separate from fine art, craft now widely reveals its expressive potential and cultural significance
Amid the pandemic, the craft scene does not stop. The Cheongju Craft Biennale still goes all out cultivating an environment for people in Cheongju to deepen their relationship to art, creativity, and one another.
The Cheongju Craft Biennale presents dynamic exhibitions from September 8 to October 17 in Culture Factory in Cheongju city.
Since starting as the world’s first craft biennale in 1999, the Cheongju Craft Biennale has featured a wide selection of craftworks, assembled from the electric richness from the globe, including traditional categories of ceramics, lacquer, textiles and metals. It is a cultural event that divines the sensibilities of contemporary artists and expresses their emotions while maintaining balance between the practicality and artistry of crafts. Working with a wide range of curators and designers, it has produced high-quality and thoughtful explorations of craft.
The theme of the 2021 Cheongju Craft Biennale is ‘Tools for Conviviality.’ It is borrowed from Ivan Illich’s book with the same title which argued that tools should be limited in order to restore humanity, by criticizing the era in which tools dominate humans. It’s the era that people experience “modernized poverty” which means ‘the deprivation of the freedom and competence required for a creative and self-driven life’ and “live standardized lifestyles as consumers of standardized products”.
This year’s exhibition, curated by the art director Mi-sun Rheem, reflects on how contemporary craftsmanship can deliver messages of healing and hope to people in a rapidly changing society under rampant materialism, globalization, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Director Rheem explained that the ‘conviviality’ in the theme means not only ‘living together’ but also ‘co-prospering society’ where people, tools, and groups form beneficial relationships. The theme is divided into four sub-theme: ‘Labor: Archaeology of Objects’, ‘Life: Aesthetics of Everyday Life’, ‘Language: Distribution of Sensibility’, and ‘Archives: Retooling’.
The exhibition provides us with material for thought on the crises human beings face, such as overproduction and excessive consumption, destruction of the environment, monopolization by experts, bipolarization, deterioration (regeneration), and aging, among others. It brings together more than 380 iconic craftworks by 99 artists from 23 countries worldwide to highlight key thematic touchpoints in craft’s history that have brought us to this moment. These works shine a spotlight on contemporary crafts and its makers, including both established and emerging artists. The exhibitions with a creative line-up of educational programs and conferences will also highlight the sustainable future of crafts and share ideas to create rich craft culture and discourse. Craft market, Chungbuk craft workshop, and Exhibition-related projects such as ‘Becoming a Maker’, ‘Be My Guest’, and ‘Exploring Craft Under the Sea’ will also amp up the mood at the festivities.
The Craft Competition was already held in May and you can see the prize-winning works in the exhibition. Furthermore, the exhibition recruits a host country and introduces the representative craft works of the host country. France was designated as the host country this year. And two international advisors – Wayne Crothers from National Gallery of Victoria in Australia and Judith S. Schwartz Professor of Art and Art Professions at New York University – took part in contributing to the sustainable management of the biennale.
From Sept. 8 to Oct 17, an online tour will also be available on the website.
For more information on the 2021 Cheongju Craft Biennale, visit the website. (www.okcj.org)
Kayla Hong
Asia Journal
