KOREAN NET

By Charles Audouin

Video = Korea Craft and Design Foundation's official YouTube channel

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the Korea Craft and Design Foundation, from Oct. 14-20 will hold the annual Hanbok Culture Week in Seoul's Jongno-gu District and throughout the nation.

The theme of this year's event is "Beautiful Hanbok, Ambassador of Korean Wave."

The seventh edition of the event features an array of Hanbok happenings such as exhibitions, interactive programs and fashion shows to promote the application of Hanbok culture in everyday life.

Seoul Museum of Craft Art will host the exhibition "Touch: See," which showcases Hanbok elements such as outdoor robes, female ceremonial topcoats and shrouds, videos of the clothing making process and Hanji (traditional paper) creations. Chunchugwan, a facility in the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae, will display traditional costumes for first birthdays, coming-of-age ceremonies, weddings, birthdays for the elderly and ancestral rituals.

Visitors can try on traditional Hanbok at Hwangyeongjeong Hall of Changgyeonggung Palace in Seoul. Reenactment of a coming-of-age ceremony for teenagers at the National Folk Museum of Korea will be accompanied by an explanation of the ceremony and the clothing's history.

The craft museum will also host a discussion with Hanbok experts.

Awards and plaques on Oct. 18 will be given at the outdoor yard of the craft museum for six contributors to Hanbok. A congratulatory performance will follow the awards ceremony, and a fashion show will allow visitors to talk to models and experience Hanbok up close.

Around 300 venues nationwide will host diverse Hanbok events including branches of Hanbok Culture Creative Space in five regions.

Other related programs will be held abroad. In conjunction with Korea-Vietnam Friendship Korean Culture Day in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a fashion show featuring the traditional costumes of both countries and a Hanbok promotional booth will run from Oct. 26-27.

The official poster for the 2024 Hanbok Culture Week shows a woman's outfit on the left and a man's on the right. (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

caudouin@korea.kr