Korea National University of Cultural Heritage releases book on Korean embroidery

Korea National University of Cultural Heritage’s traditional arts and crafts professor Sim Yeon-ok has published a book, titled “2,000 Years of Korean Embroidery,” which offers historical analyses on the technical development of Korean embroidery, in collaboration with her students.

Established in 2000, the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage is run by the Cultural Heritage Administration.

The book presents 48 historic embroidery works from the ancient kingdoms period to the Korean Empire. The book describes in detail about the stitching techniques, materials, usages and social meanings reflected in the historically meaningful works.

According to the CHA, the examined artifacts include several items that were rarely introduced before such as the embroidered textile fragments excavated from the Seokam-li historic site in Pyongyang, the tomb of Baekje King Muryeong in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, and the Mireuksa temple site in Iksan, North Jeolla Province.

Some of the items located overseas that reflect Korean embroidery culture are also introduced in this book.

All objects in the book are photographed by Seo Heun-kang. To enhance readers’ understanding, the book contains over 550 high-quality images of the examined artifacts and 64 diagrams illustrating detailed techniques and structure of the pieces.

“We will continue to work hard to promote the outstanding techniques and beauty of Korean embroidery to the world through this new book ‘2,000 Years of Korean Embroidery,’” Sim said in a statement.

The new publication is Sim’s third about Korean textiles. Previously, the professor published “5,000 Years of Korean Textiles” and “2,000 Years of Korean Textile Design” in 2002 and 2006, respectively.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)