• Start
•  
• Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale Gwngju
•  
• Sagimakgol Ceramics Village
•  
• Icheon Naratnim Icheon Rice
•  
• Gyeonggi International Ceramics Biennale Icheon
•  
• Gyeonggi International Cermics Biennale Yeoju
•  
• Sun Valley Hotel
•  
• Bobaene
•  
• Yeoju Sinreuk Temple
•  
• Yeong Tomb
•  
• Gwangju Jincheon Yukmyeon
•  
• Namhan Fortress
•  
• Finish

World's biggest ceramic festival 'Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale' Gwngju : Its Traditional Color(本色)

The 8th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale 2015 first started in 2001. It has been held in Gwangju, Yeoju, and Icheon, Gyeonggi-do for 8 times. Main purpose of the exhibition is to discover and support outstanding artists around the world. International competition exhibition is also held every year. As years go by, it became the biggest International Ceramics Biennale that 74 different countries participate in. From this year, they try to be against the simple exhibition of prize-winning works and seek for the way to communicate by inducing people to participate with variety events.

+ Theme of Gwngju, Gyeonggido : Its Traditional Color(本色) – Traditional factors of the three East Asian countries

The festival is held in the Gonjiam Doja Ceramic Park in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do. There are many experience centers and exhibition shops in the park. You can watch the exhibition in Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum in the center of the park.

This 2015 festival's theme is 'Color(色): Ceramic Spectrum'. Exhibits and circumstance are distinct and colorful according to the theme that people can easily recognize it.

In front of the museum, a few experience spaces are open to people. It's possible to make dishes and white porcelains and decorate pre-baked dishes in person. Experience charge varies from 2,000 won to 20,000 won. It costs maximum 20,000 won including Soseong(Process of glazing and burning of ceramics) price and delivery fee. It seems little expensive to me. It might be because 'Soseong' needs to be done by an expert and the work process takes long time. Besides, potteries made through this process should be safely delivered to homes.

Let's go into the gallery. Admission is charged. Access one venues for one museum costs 4,000 won but all access tickets(Icheon, Gwangju, Yeoju) cost 10,000 won. You can get 20% of discount with certain card(8,000 won). For more information about discounts and prices, please check out the picture above.

I'm on the first floor of the museum. Among three festivals, this museum in Gwangju holds 'Bonsaekgonggam(本色共感): Traditional East Asian Ceramic Art Exhibition' and 'The 4th Beautiful Korean Ceramics Competition'.

Permanent exhibition hall 'Hall of Ceramic Culture' is in the corner of the first floor before the main exhibition hall. Let's look around this hall first.

The reason why I started my museum tour from this hall is it clearly explains how ceramics are made and what kinds of ceramics are there. It would be helpful to understand other works with basic information about the ceramics from here.

For example, it shows materials and techniques of underglaze and overglaze painting. I learned one thing through this picture above that blue patterns on porcelain that we commonly find is made with cyanide pigment(Cobalt oxide). This material makes the porcelain more expensive.

Well, let's go to appreciate our beautiful prize-winners with some basic information that we get from the Ceramic Culture Hall.

As soon as I entered to the hall, a white bowl catches my eyes. It is called 'Gakbal' which means octagonal bowl and won the grand prize at this competition exhibition. I have watched various international competition exhibitions and Korean works for several years. In my opinion, works that are simple but preserve traditional values and are difficult to make smooth tend to win the prize. This one also looks very simple but it's a work of great artistic value.

Total 44 works are put on exhibition here but I will glance over a few of them. Its name is 'Wolsik'. It won the second prize. It seems the color of darkness and light is embodied.

This work also won the second prize. It's 'Buncheong Boibyeongcha Gakdanji'. It's good that I can guess their material, shape, and use with only their name. Wouldn't it be 'Buncheong=Grayish-blue-powdered celadon', Boibyeongcha=Puer tea, Gakdanji=Angled pot'? I would like to put it somewhere in my house.

Next, I came into the exhibition hall of 'Bonsaekgonggam(本色共感): Traditional East Asian Ceramic Art Exhibition'. It holds works of potters from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. It's the place where you can appreciate three countries' sense of beauty and view of art that have been developed through a long history.

Ceramics of each country have their own unique shape. Ones of Taiwan were inherited with a combination of characteristics of various Chinese ceramics. I can find both splendor and simplicity that are peculiar to China.

Most Korean works are rather contemporary and reinterpreted than traditional. It's impressive to see modern reproduction of Goryeo celadon and Buncheongsagi.

Inside the gallery looks like this. Each country captures one or two parts, so you can watch quite a lot of works.

Japanese ones are very small and delicate. I can take a glimpse of Japanese culture that inherits the tradition of white porcelain to contemporary ceramics. It's impressive to see a Cheongbaekja(Between celadon and White porcelain) with raspberry pattern and dishes that embodied small dandelions and lotus flowers.

In the Gonjiam Doja Ceramic Park, there are theme park and experience center, as well as internal exhibition halls. For Soseong process, ceramics need to be burnt in the klin for about 14 hours. You can watch the process in person.

+ Making fire in kiln : May 1st, 8th, 17th
+ Taking out from klin : May 5th, 12th, 21st
+ Address : Jeontong Jangjak Gama(2nd Gama) in the Gwangju Ceramic Festival Hall

In a forest, there are outdoor works that applied sculptures and ceramics as like in the Spain Sculpture Park and Expo Sculpture Park. In Hongbaekwon which is a habitat of lotus flowers, you can appreciate pretty lotus flowers during the summer. It's very good place to spread a mat and take some rest.

No matter how great works they are, just watching them is not interesting. There are many marketplaces where you can buy ceramics in person inside and outside of the building. You can purchase small things like dishes with only a few thousand wons.

How can I miss food at the festival? There are food marketplaces here and there at the festival. There are some rice soup, Bindaetteok(Mung-bean pancake), Tteokbokki(Stir-fried rice cake), and Sundae(Korean Sausage) in the marketplaces. It's very good place to look around ceramic works and sculpture park and spend a day with your family. You can fully enjoy during festival season, you should go visit in May. However you can watch exhibitions in Gyeonggi Ceramics Museum anytime.

+ Address : 727, Gyeongchungdae-ro, Gonjiam-eup, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do
+ Telephone : 031-799-1500
+ Open Hour : 9:30 am ~ 6 pm (Allowed to entrance until 30 mns before closing time)
+ Entrance Fee : Adult 4,000 won, Student 2,000 won, All Access Ticket(Icheon,Yeoju,Gwangju) 10,000 won, Gukmin Card 20% Off
+ Parking Fee : Free