Korean Hanji Paper's Colonial Erasure: A Craft Fellow's Critique

In a personal essay for Hyperallergic, Korean-American papermaker Robert Choe-Henderson examines how the term 'kozo' has become a universal shorthand for East Asian papermaking, obscuring the distinct histories of Korean hanji. He argues that this linguistic conflation is rooted in Japan's colonial occupation of Korea (1910–1945), during which the Korean language and cultural traditions were suppressed. Choe-Henderson, a 2025 Craft Archive Fellow, notes that while he himself uses the term and teaches Japanese papermaking techniques, he feels discomfort with the field's historical amnesia. He observed 'kozo' appearing in workshops, artist statements, and educational materials as a category that makes East Asian papermaking legible, asking when one tradition began to represent all others. The essay is part of a series on underrepresented craft histories organized with the Center for Craft. Choe-Henderson's work with hanji, including the traditional webal-ddeugi sheet-formation technique, is highlighted in a photo from 2024 at Elf School of the Arts.