Two Ethos Homage

The first 'Two Ethos' exhibition, held during the Milano Design Week in April 2017, is the first joint project of the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage (KNUCH) and
the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED), which has concluded exchange agreements. The goal was to show(especially in Italy, which leads fashion) that Korean traditional crafts (or techniques) can be developed as a new genre of product by combining with European design. Tradition can be an important mediator between the present and the future, the East and the West. The excellence of the Korean traditional crafts has been
combined with the modern and international design of Italy, and the works that were born for the first time during the Milan International Design Week have been successful. It was reported with great interest in several media outlets in Korea and Italy, including the Italian Vogue magazine, and was influential enough to create a similar project as an example to some of the Mexican Universities that partnered with the IED. The main purpose of this project was to give Italian and European artists more attention to Korean traditional textiles and to promote the youth, diversity, future and internationalization of Korean traditional materials to the whole world. However, when students proceeded with the project, they were confronted with the limitation that they could stop at the experimental work lacking professionalism and commerciality. That's why we created Two Ethos 2.0 'Homage' that worked with international designers and artists.
The artists who participated in the Two Ethos Homage produced their masterpieces using four different types of Korean traditional textiles: Gold woven silk with round patterns, Satin with Supplementary Mother-of-Pearl Wefts, Moon Sa, and Raw Ramie fabric. There were only two conditions given to the artists: Korean traditional textile has to be the protagonist of the work, and to make it by utilizing their personality. The
artists who run the company have attached traditional fibers to their own products that have a certain identity of the brand, but most of the artists have newly designed them with the touch of the contemporary trend while maintaining the texture and the characteristics of the traditional fibers and the messages conveyed by the fibers. This project also was a very special challenge for these 9 artists who have gained a worldwide reputation in different fields and they all praised the beauty of Korean traditional textiles. It takes 9 months to complete all the works. Despite their busy schedules, I am grateful to all participating artists who have produced their best works.
Visitors to the Two Ethos 2.0 exhibition in the spring of 2018 will be able to meet the bold and diverse reinterpretations of Korean traditional textiles through the hands of designers and artists active in Europe, I’m sure you will be amazed at the beauty of the courage and work, and feel proud of the excellence of Korean traditional textile at the same time. International fusion between the most traditional and the most futuristic: let
young people recognize the fact that Korean traditional crafts are not old, so that they can continue to grow and participate in foreign designers who recognize the importance and add value of traditional Korean textiles. It is an opportunity to show the excellence of Korean traditional craft and expand it to international market.

Kim Sunghee
Two Ethos Homage Curator