GOLFZON Foundation Hosts Awards Ceremony and Exhibition for the ‘Iron-Painted Buncheong Ware Becomes an Industry’ Competition to Carry On the 500-Year-Old Traditional Craft of Mt. Gyeryong

• Nov 27 (Wed) – Dec 4 (Wed): Award-winning works of the ‘4th Iron-Painted Buncheong Ware Becomes an Industry’ competition on display at GOLFZON Joymaru
• Awards ceremony held on the 27th… 92 works selected out of a total of 159 entries, with ceramist Lee Moon-hyun’s ‘Play of Gyeryong’ winning the Grand Prize

The GOLFZON Foundation (Chairman Kim Young-chan) announced on the 28th that it will hold an exhibition of award-winning works and invited artists from the ‘4th Iron-Painted Buncheong Ware Becomes an Industry’ competition from November 27 to December 4 on the first floor of GOLFZON Joymaru in Daejeon.

Now in its fourth edition, the ‘Iron-Painted Buncheong Ware Becomes an Industry’ competition was held to reinterpret the artistic value of iron-painted buncheong ware in a contemporary way and to lay the groundwork for a revival of traditional culture.

This year’s competition was held under the theme of teapots and trophies created by applying iron-painted buncheong ware as a motif. The awards ceremony was held on the 27th at the Champions Hall of GOLFZON Joymaru, attended by event officials and award winners including GOLFZON Foundation Chairman Kim Young-chan and Byeon Pyeong-seop, chairman of the Mt. Gyeryong Iron-Painted Buncheong Ware Research Institute.

A total of 159 submitted works competed, with 92 selected as award winners. The coveted Grand Prize, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award, went to ceramist Lee Moon-hyun’s ‘Play of Gyeryong.’ △ The Top Excellence Awards went to artist Park Jong-hyun’s ‘Buncheong Ware Iron-Painted Pine Pattern Teapot’ and artist Jeong Seong-hyun’s ‘Hwayangyeonhwa (花樣年華).’ △ The Excellence Awards went to artist Kang Gwang-muk’s work ‘Glory’ and three other works.

Grand Prize winner Lee Moon-hyun said, “I am grateful for the efforts of those who hosted this competition to carry on the legacy of iron-painted buncheong ware, and I find it deeply meaningful to have achieved a good result at an event where the beauty of our ceramics can be showcased.”

This exhibition features a total of 108 works, including 92 award-winning pieces from the competition and 16 works from the invitational exhibition by artist Kim Ki-jong and 11 other artists, along with four Japanese artists.

Since 2013, the GOLFZON Foundation has continuously carried out activities to globalize the tradition of Mt. Gyeryong iron-painted buncheong ware and to promote the excellence of Korean ceramics. It has presented a white paper on Mt. Gyeryong iron-painted buncheong ware, an iron-painted buncheong ware collaboration residency, and exhibition activities, and with this competition, it has expressed its commitment by taking on the role of organizer for the first time, going beyond mere sponsorship.

GOLFZON Foundation Chairman Kim Young-chan said, “The GOLFZON Foundation is carrying out various cultural and artistic activities together with domestic artists to inherit and develop the historical and cultural value of Mt. Gyeryong iron-painted buncheong ware, one of Korea’s three major types of ceramics,” adding, “I am grateful to the ceramists who submitted works out of an interest in the contemporary restoration and scholarly research of iron-painted buncheong ware, and we plan to continue meaningful activities through collaboration with cultural and artistic figures going forward.”