Hanji and art in Seoul

Some of the best hanji made in Korea is in the file marked 신현세전통한지: Shin Hyun-se Traditional Hanji. A senior research scientist in the forest biomaterials research center of the national institute of forest science, Dr. Oh-Kyu Lee brought me to the newish Hanji Culture and Industry Center in Seoul that KCDF started. Here you can see and handle hanji made all over Korea (sadly, less mills than when I started my research 13 years ago). Then you can find out how to order from the makers.

Of course there's also artwork and other samples of paper both on the main level and downstairs.

Dr. Lee has already opened a whole new set of roads for me and as he said so eloquently when introducing himself to me last year via email, we are both in the same boat called hanji. He gets it. Not many people here do, but it's great to have this kind of ally. I'll meet him in a couple days in Jinju and meet one more very important hanji person, and we'll all travel together to a paper mill I haven't yet visited.

Dr. Lee brought me also to 종이나무 (Jonginamoo, literal translation: paper wood), a gallery that had to move after rent got too high. Kim Jeong-soon (김정순) makes gorgeous hanji lamps and artwork, using paper from Wonju Hanji. I had seen these cloud lamps years ago and recognized the work almost immediately, so it was great to finally meet the person behind the work.

Then my artist friend Jeong-in Cha met me there to have tea.

She took me to a little gallery first, and it was so nice to be able to do things like that, stop in studios and art places and tea shops and museums and wherever. I was distracted by everything I had to pack and prepare that night but was grateful for her company over tea and then dinner. She made a call for me that reminded me of when we first met 13 years ago and she immediately made hard calls for me to help. I'm nearly drowning now in an abundance of people willing and able to help, and it's incredible to feel so many hands working behind the scenes to make this trip work for me.