Sunday, april 12th 2015
I had a day off and at 10:00h in the morning Mr. Kim from BERNINA Korea planned to pick me up at the hotel. I was a bit too early at the reception and took advantage to take some impressions of that beautiful hotel.
What a wonderful surprise! Not only Mr. Kim entered the hotel, he took a beloved good korean quilting friend with him, Jong Kyeong Lee. Oh happy day!
So great to spend the day also at her side :-).
What I was interested to look at, they asked me. Either Seoul City or a korean palace and Insa-Dong, that special place for artists in Seoul? No question, I did not even had to think about, of course I decided for the palace and the artists-quater. It took another hour to drive into Seoul and got a parkingplace in middle of downtown. Some minutes later, we met Sue, the fantastic translater and finally we where ready for take-off! I was reeling from one surprise into another – what a wonderful place.
“Pojagis!!!” and not just one, but several, beautifully needleworked Pojagis, that were presented in the shop windows. Best of all, some of those shops also offered theses special Ramie-fabrics to do the original Pojagis….and I bought some – but later.
Lots of tourists bargain were shown too, some made in Korea, others, quite cheap stuff was made in China.
And like coincidence we met another korean Quiltartist in the middle of the street. We introduced ourselves, talked about our work, shared fotos and were amazed of the others work.
Of course we had another nice lunch in another korean restaurant. This time we were offered seafood. And luckily I did not only find chopsticks, but also a spoon on my wooden tablet ;-).
Saturated and relaxed we walked direction of this palace, some of its outside buildings do mix with the modern city of Seoul.
GYEONG BOK GUNG, Seoul (Wikipedia)
Gyeongbokgung (경복궁), also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace, was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. Built in 1395, it is located in northern Seoul, South Korea. The largest of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon dynasty, Gyeongbokgung served as the home of Kings of the Joseon dynasty, the Kings’ households, as well as the government of Joseon.
Gyeongbokgung continued to serve as the main palace of the Joseon dynasty until the premises were destroyed by fire during the Imjin War and abandoned for two centuries. However, all of the palace’s 7,700 rooms were later restored under the leadership of Prince Regent Heungseon during the reign of King Gojong. Some 500 buildings were restored on a site of over 40 hectares.[1] The architectural principles of ancient Korea were incorporated into the tradition and appearance of the Joseon royal court.
In the early 20th century, much of the palace was systematically destroyed by Imperial Japan. Since then, the walled palace complex is gradually being restored to its original form. Today, the palace is arguably regarded as being the most beautiful and grandest of all five palaces. It also houses the National Palace Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum within the premises of the complex. (Wikipedia)
Ebenfalls besuchten wir noch, das auf dem Palastgelände ansässige Koreanische Volkskundemuseum, wo uns natürlich besonders die textilen Arbeiten, Stickerein doch auch ein ganz alter Pojagi auffielen.
A couple of hours later we left the areal and walked back into Insa-Dong.
More beautiful textiles to admire:
Numerous exhibitions were promoted on fantastic posters:
Time for korean Tea! And on the patch heading to a beautiful Korean Teahouse.
My dear korean friends ordered four different special korean tea, that I could taste with a wooden spoon to choose my favourite – this was the green plum……yummy!
More shops to see in Insa-Ding, the neverending temptation of endless shops…..
Paradise for calligraphie!
I could not pass by this shop. Its decoration and the variety of ramie and silk fabrics for Pojagis was too seductive and I had to buy some. Jong Kyeong Lee gave me some good advise what and how much to buy and I just decided the colours I liked to combine.
Finally the battery of my camera was empty – so just another three spots of “healthy” korean candy. “These are just nuts, don’t worry” I was told. I took this as face value ;-).
The head full of impressions, a bag full of pojagi fabrics and some healthy candys in my hands I closed some time later the door of my hotelroom.
What a day. What a country. Fine folks. Full of respect and dignity for themselves and others. A very impressing new experience.
Tomorrow morning, 8:30h Mr. Kim will pick me up at the hotel for the next workshop in Bundang, the second CreativCenter of BERNINA Korea, nearby Seoul. I am looking forward to it.
See you tomorrow!
Jutta Hellbach
ps. of course I already startet sewing my first pojagi. Its comfortable and relaxing to do.
Thank you for this glorious post. I’ve discovered it after some brief research into Pojagi and only sad that I didn’t know about it when I visited Korea years ago and wasn’t into textiles.