Bland But Bold : the colour of uncoloured textiles

In 1897, after her fourth visit to Korea, an English traveler and writer Isabella Bishop noted in her book Korea and Her Neighbours that Korean people liked to wear white. Her description was one of many historic descriptions about the “White-Clad Folk”, a term used to describe the Korean spirit.

Some people still insist that it could be a simple myth to conceal the truth of flagrant poverty, given Korean people had been too poor to grow costly but inedible plants. However, as stated by Ms. Isabella, "This wearing of white clothes … entails very severe and incessant labor on the women. The coats have to be unpicked and put together again each time that they are washed." (p339, ‘social position of women’) And the Joseon Dynasty until the 19th century and the following Japanese Forces government had prohibited people to wear white due to this inefficiency. But wearing in white became the symbol of protest and resistance instead. Those historical records prove how ancient Koreans loved to wear white, with traditional textiles like muslin, linen or cotton without dyeing or bleaching.

Wearing white was more than preference actually. Historically commoners wore white, and the practice related to worship and heaven. Textile fibers founded in Korea are generally plant-based, like linen and cotton, which were harder to take colours than animal-based fibers like silk or wool. White was also the colour of rice, which has been and still is fundamental to Asian lives. Korean people still take it for granted to make white rice with white alcohol when holding a memorial service to their ancestors.

This colour was not actually the modern white that we are familiar with today, but called So-saek in Korean, which can be translated as uncoloured, natural or off-white. Before raw textiles are dyed or bleached, it’s possible to observe several neutral colours, and so-saek describes it. This has inspired contemporary quilters to produce new quilts, not only in finding the best way to mix-and-match the traditional textiles with the commercial fabrics and apply various quilt techniques on them, but developing the themes from the meaning.

Their ambition is to show the current state of Korean quilts, and this exhibition focuses on the universal role of colours in making quilts, exploring how it creates meaning and provides context.

<Poetry of the Moon> by HUR, Soon Hee

The moon which symbolises a large void or transcendence, constantly repeats a cycle of emptiness and filling.

On a clear moonlit night, the landscape looms everywhere in its first and original colour. The mountain, which held all the typical colours of the day, returns to its clean, empty form and catches its breath, preparing itself for a new beginning.

<Every Way> by KIM, Jiyoung

The traditional Korean Jeogori, a basic upper garment worn by men and women, is simplified and reconstructed into a modern pattern in this quilt. Using traditional Korean cotton and hemp, it shows a unique beauty of composure and lively modern images and is designed to express that both the past and the present, and how my country and the world are connected by a single line within the colour of So-saek.

<Irresistible Wind> by HYUN, Mikoung

The colour So-saek embraces nature and is open to infinite possibilities like an empty piece of paper. In South Korean culture, we will go back into nature wearing uncoloured clothes just like when we were born, and this is how the colour So-saek accompanies our lives, which is formed by sunlight, water, wind, fire and time.

For me, living on a windy island, so-saek was like the wind. The wind always moves and inspires me, making me dream of a new change, embracing my worries and unpredictable emotions. The wind, like the colour So-saek, is always beside me even when I am not aware of it.

<the Cross of Miracles> by JANG, Hung Sook

I joined this project when I was thinking a lot about the question of who I am. ‘So’ means 'as it is' and whenever I describe or explain how I feel about myself, I always draw a kind of mental boundary in my mind. In other words, the essence of identifying ‘me’ is where I have set my boundaries. I thought the meaning of the colour so-saek is more important than what is seen, so I tried to find my own idea of the colour and expressed it in the quilts.

<Infinity> by KIM, Kyungjoo

Infinity literally means that there is no limit, although metaphysics describes it as there being neither a beginning nor an end. My mother passed away when I was designing this quilt, and I realized once again that the transcendent God was the only universe and the deepest ocean for her to devote her whole life of lowering herself. I pray that she will rest forever in wide and limitless heaven with angel wings around her.