Hats, shoes on exhibit
By Chung Ah-young
Traditionally hats and shoes were considered as important as costumes as they symbolized the authority and status of the wearers during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) strongly dominated by Confucianism as the ruling ideology.
The National Folk Museum of Korea is holding a special exhibition to showcase 250 examples of headgear and footwear ranging from the Joseon Kingdom to the early modern days.
It is the first of its kind to focus solely on these items as the main theme with diverse spectrums of meaning, form and aesthetic values.
A variety of “gat,” or official hats for men, show the changes and trends of the typical horse hair hats for men in the height of the crown and width of the brim.
“The periods of King Yeongjo and Jeongjo featured hats with decorative strings using amber and other jewelry. In the 17th and 18th centuries, men’s hats with brims of over 60 centimeters in width were popular. Such wide-brimmed hats were mostly worn by military officers. But in King Gojong’s reign, narrow-brimmed hats were in vogue. A narrow horse hair hat was replaced by the fedora and a straw hat,” Choi Eun-soo, curator of the museum, said.
Compared to men, women wore less diverse hats and shoes as their social activities were more restricted. Women wore a type of veil, hood and capes but when they began to wear Western-style outfits, they stopped covering their faces.
Hats and shoes worn by the royal family, administrative and military officials, religious leaders and entertainers and for ceremonial occasions such as coming of age, weddings, funerals and ancestral rites can be seen in this exhibition.
The exhibition also displays early modern hats and shoes such as students’ caps, berets, fedoras and official ceremonial robes and military uniforms which were used in the 19th century.
A variety of hats and shoes are exhibited according to their materials such as bamboo, straw, paper, hemp, wood, leather, and horsehair.
To help with understanding the traditional headgear and footwear, the exhibition offers an animated video explaining the origins of the items and tales of the items appearing in Korean fables.
The impressions made on foreign visitors regarding the outfits of Korea, especially the hats, are exhibited through prints and photographs taken by foreign artists. Photographs in a 1910 National Geographic magazine capture images of Koreans wearing hats of the time.
Five artisans who contributed their craft to the exhibition are alternating in demonstrations at workshops in the exhibition hall.
Gat maker Park Chang-young and Hwang Hae-bong will showcase their skills through April 25, Hong Dal-pyo; a vine hat maker from Jeju Island, from April 29 to May 2; Lim Chae-ji, straw craftsman, from May 27 to 30 and Park Sung-ho, headdress craftsman, from June 9 to 13.
The exhibition will continue through June 13 at the National Folk Museum of Korea. For more information call (02) 3704-3155.