▲ Designer Bae Jin-gyeong

Designer Bae Jin-gyeong was born in Goseong County, South Gyeongsang Province. She grew up watching royal tombs and cultural monuments and grew her interest in the histories of old kingdoms: Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Gaya and Tamna. She thought that the historical value of the six Gaya kingdoms was bigger than we knew today and Tamna (current Jeju Island) also had much more cultural assets since the trade was made frequently with China and Japan. So, she decided to re-create these rather omitted assets of the five kingdoms in modern sense; she calls this project [B-up A E] Bi-up ei i. The idea is that she turns the relics displayed in museums to accessories that have historical stories and educational values for the people to use daily so that we can better learn the histories of the five kingdoms. Bae brought up this idea in 2001 and secured substantial materials to make the crafts in 2009. The difference between the displayed and the re-created is that the latter focuses on educational purpose such as delivering the knowledge on the origin of a pattern, for example, and its meaning, according to Bae. You can buy the accessories of Bae at various museums in Korea including the Gongju National Museum and the Seoul Baekje Museum. Bae recommends ‘samjeokoh’ and ‘gokok’. Former used to be hung around the body of royal families and the latter meant baby and vitality (Bae adds another meaning: the sun – energy of life). You can hang ‘gokok’ as ear rings, bracelets and necklaces. Bae makes theses accessories only by hands based on the historical facts. She also made ‘samjoekoh pendant’ and attracted a great attention at exhibitions held in Paris in 2012 and Beverly Hills, US in 2017. Currently, Bae is planning to open an offline store as well as an online channel with the support of the Small and Medium Business. She is confident that her accessories contain the time and the story and therefore each product has a unique educational value. Also, she is expanding the product lines for clothes and interior as well as ceramics and Korean painting. July this year, Bae is displaying ‘samjeokoh’ and ‘gokok’ at the Art Osaka in Japan with her ambition to spread their beauty to more people. 

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