The First Korea Society of Craft Designers Exhibition, Brochure, 1974, MMCA Art Research Center Collection, Gift of Chang Chungsoon and Shin Youngok
Korea Society of Craft Designers
* Source: MMCA
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Korean Craftmen's Council
There are two organizations that were formed in the 1960s and 1970s under the same name Korean Craftsmen’s Council (KCC). The first KCC was established on July 17, 1965 by fifteen craftsmen, including the chief secretary Park Daisoon, the assistant administrator Nam Sang-gyo, and Lee Shinja, Yi U-seong, and Chung Kyu. Based on the academic research on craft activities, it strove to enlighten people about crafts, study craft education, develop industrial planning and product management of contemporary crafts, and promote international exchanges of craftworks. Its crafts exhibition was held annually, with the first one held at the Korean Information Service Gallery from July 20 through 26 in 1965. The first KCC led the “Good Design” movement. According to the newspaper article in Dong-A Ilbo on March 12, 1966, it was admitted to the World Crafts Council (WCC) as a full member in 1966, the year after its founding. The second KCC was founded on July 10, 1973 by craftsmen in their thirties, such as Kang Chankyun, Kwak Daeung, Kim Tuk-kyum, Kim Jihee, Park Hyungchul, Yim Mugeun, Cho Chunghyun, Choi Seungchun, and Choi Hyunchil. It aimed to fulfill “its responsibility as designers to rationalize and beautify modern living spaces.” From September 17 through 23 in 1974, the exhibition celebrating its founding was held at the Shinsegae Gallery. Starting in 1980, it had four divisions of metal crafts, ceramics, wood-lacquering crafts, and dyeing crafts. It began to use the new name Korean Crafts Council from the late 1980s, continuing until today. The number of its divisions has also increased to five (metal crafts, ceramics, wood-lacquering crafts, textile crafts, and glass crafts).
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Grand Craft Exhibition of Korea
The Grand Craft Exhibition of Korea is a competition organized by the Korean Fine Arts Association [Mihyeop] and invites entries for crafts in each category. With the abolition of the government-sponsored National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon) in 1949 right after the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea, its crafts section was temporarily included in the Grand Art Exhibition of Korea hosted by the Korean Fine Arts Association from 1982 but began to be operated separately from 1986. The first competition was held in 1986 and organized by the MMCA. From the second edition (1987) through the thirteenth edition (1998), it was operated by the Korean Fine Arts Association. With the eighteenth edition in 1999, the crafts section was officially included in the Grand Art Exhibition of Korea. At the time, the Operating Committee for the Grand Craft Exhibition of Korea was established, and the Korea Culture and Arts Foundation began sponsoring the competition. The fields of the competition were divided into metal, ceramics, wood-lacquering, dyeing, and others, and centered on established artists. The Grand Craft Exhibition of Korea is responsible for evaluating the workmanship and artistry of professional artists in each craft field.
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