Traditional Cultural Crafts at the Onngo Gallery, Jeonju Hanok Village

Onngo Gallery: reviewing the old to learn the new

Located in Jeonju Hanok Village, Onngo Gallery is a space for traditional culture and arts. The name ‘Onngo’ comes from the traditional four-character idiom ‘on go ji shin’, meaning ‘to review the old things to learn the new’.

Onngo Gallery aims to promote local traditional culture and arts and for more vibrant local community. The gallery has been producing the cultural contents based on the storytelling of the history of Jeonju and the surrounding Jeonbuk region. Also, the gallery has been developing commercial products in collaboration with the artisans conveying the National Intangible Cultural Heritages and other master hands.

In more detail, the gallery promotes the artisans’ and master hands’ products and supports their activities. Also, the gallery runs hanji (Korean traditional paper, a specialty of Jeonju) audio experience at the meditation space on the 2^nd floor.

Exhibitions at ‘Onngo’

The works by the artisans of the National Intangible Cultural Heritages are on display at the exhibition hall on the 1^st floor. The above photos are the works by the National Intangible Cultural Heritage cabinetmaker So Byeong-Jin. For four decades, he restored the royal furnitures.

The above are the works by cloisonné designer Park Soo-Gyeong. The cloisonné products are also sold through the gallery homepage.

The above are the ‘chef’s knife’ inspired by the traditional Korean ‘Sa In Geom’ (literally, the ‘four tigers sword’ believed to convey the evil-slaying power).

At the entrance of the Onngo Gallery are the trees that are more than 500 years or even more than 1000 years old. They are also used for tea tables.

Creating new values through the harmony of the old and the new

(photo: the artisans are collaborating)

The Onngo Gallery supports the local artisans to promote the local traditional culture and arts. In the longer term, the support will strengthen the traditional cultural and artistic foundation of Jeonju and the Jeonbuk area. Hence the role of the galleries such as Onngo is very important.

More than providing an exhibition space, the gallery also supports the promotion and marketing of the artisans’ works and products. Moreover, the gallery has been researching how to create new cultural values through harmonizing the traditional culture and the contemporary.

We expect the Onngo Gallery to continue popularizing the local arts and also to promote the transmission of the intangible cultural heritages.

Onngo
Address: Gyeonggijeongil 42, Wansangu, Jeonju
Opening hours: 11:00~17:00 (hours are subject to change)
Contact: 063-232-9522 (reservation for the hanji radio listening experience)
Homepage: https://onngoheritage.com/

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