Korean Craft Exhibition at La Triennale di Milano Explores Making and Thinking

The exhibition 'Making is Thinking is Making: New Korean Craft' opened at La Triennale di Milano, organized by the KCDF Korea Craft & Design Foundation. Curated by Hong Bora, director of Gallery Factory in Seoul, the show features works by 28 designers who explore the relationship between craft and thought, inspired by Richard Sennett's book 'The Craftsman'. Visitors are invited to participate in a collective artwork. The exhibition is structured into four areas: craft as refinement of material, knowledge as value to transmit, tradition to pass on, collaboration as dialogue, and new design evolutions. A final section is dedicated to an archive as a historical memory space. Hong Bora, who also curated 'Wirkkala Revisited' at the Design Museum Helsinki in 2015, emphasizes the importance of physicality in the age of AI, stating that 'the quality of connections is the key to quality itself,' quoting Charles Eames. She notes that the distinction between craft and design is blurring, especially among young Korean makers who study abroad and form collectives. The exhibition runs until September 12, 2016.