In yesterday's post we looked at the theme of time passing and transforming things as interpreted by a Korean artist. Let's continue the thread and look at another Korean artist and textile designer who has been indirectly tackling the same issue by preserving time-honored traditions - master craftsman Lim Keum-hee.
Originally from Yeongju, North Gyeongsang, a town that values traditions and the clothing culture of scholars, Lim Keum-hee, studied for decades the Dahoe (多繪) and the Mangsu (罔繡).
The dahoe are cords made by twisting ramie, cotton or silk thread; there are two types of dahoe, the flat and wide kwangdahoe (mainly used for belts and accessories for Joseon men) and rounded dongdahoe (used in traditional ornaments in women's clothing or other accessories that required knots).
The mangsu is instead a thicker version of a woven thread wide cord adopted for various uses such as embellishment for costumes, decorative pendants or a decorative string for a small knife.
Both dahoe and mangsu were characterised by splendid patterns and played key roles at the court or in scholars' clothing during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), an era characterised by strict etiquette.
We talk a lot about a slower fashion industry inspired also by the work of craftspeople, and Lim Keum-hee's historical research in textiles and her training could be a good example of slow art as it was meticulously rigorous and lasted 30 years.
Lim moved to Seoul in 1983 and started learning the art of knot-tying and embroidery as a hobby. She became a student of Kim Ju-hyun, the best-known maedeupjang, a master of decorative knotting.
Fascinated by the art of weaving, she eventually managed to bring back to life part of the traditional technique for dahoe and mangsu, learning also how to dye the thread to reproduce the traditional colours she wanted as she found it difficult to get threads in the exact colours she was looking for.
Making these pieces is a painfully slow art: you can weave two to three centimeters of a dahoe a day (if a mistake is committed the weaving must restart from scratch) and the weaving process can be physically daring as the artisan must use small weights that lead to hip pain and fatigue.
Still, Lim Keum-hee feels she was destined to this career as her name Keum-hee, derives from the Chinese characters "Keum," meaning silk, and "Hee," meaning woman. Master craftsman Keumhee Lim is currently the only dahoejang (master craftsperson who makes dahoe) left in Korea.
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