Barbara Brown on mon 6 sep 04
Many people have asked to hear about my trip to the IAC conference in
Korea 8/24-9/5, 2004 so decided to share the trip
Arrived in Korea after a 12 hour flight and was met by the Korean IAC
group and was driven 2 hours to the pottery town of Icheon where the
conference was being held at the Icheon World Ceramic Center. This was
the venue for the World Ceramic Biennial Korea in 2002, 2003 and will be
also in 2005.
We stayed at the Miranda Hotel. The whole lobby of the hotel is a
pottery shop (awesome).
Since the conference started on Thurs, I had a free day Wed so Norma
Harrack of Jamaica and I hired a taxi and went to the studio of a
ceramic artist famous for his celadon pottery. Norma bought a vase and
the potter gave us each a tea bowl.
He showed us his studio, kilns and gallery
Thurs The conference opened with opening ceremony, lectures, music
performance, visit to kiln museum and the opening of 3 ceramics
exhibitions. The IAC members exhibition was outstanding.
Fri Lectures, visit to World Ceramic Livingware Gallery, Yeongneung
Royal Tomb and an evening firing of a traditional kiln and barbecue. At
lunch time Fri I was invited with 6 other people to have tea at the
ceramic studio of SangKi Kim. I bought 2 cups and a plate of his.
Sat IAC members attended a business meeting and non members were given a
wonderful tour to a Korean folk village,
a ceramic studio and factory and Haegang Ceramic Art Museum.(This museum
is the only place I found pottery postcards, bought 15 and wished I had
bought more).
Sun The conference moved to Seoul and the Olympic Hotel. On the way
we stopped at Hwaseong Fortress, Suwon.
That evening 2 ceramics artists gave dinner parties at their homes and
studios.
I chose Shin SangHo who made wonderful animal sculptures inspired by a
visit to Africa.
Mon We visited galleries in Seoul on Insadong Street. Went to a
gallery opening of Canadian ceramic artist, Les Manning and then visited
many galleries and shops looking at pottery and crafts.
Then visited the Folk Art Museum.
That evening JungHo Lee ( Jay Lee) and his wife hosted a dinner party at
their gallery and home. He has over 700 Onggi pottery jars, 4 Peter
Voulkos pieces, work by Paul Soldner, Otto Heino, the Natzlers and much
more. He has a gorgeous gallery and home out in the country near the
North Korea border.
Tues-Sat Post Conference tour
Tues Stop at Samsung Electronics who sponsored the conference, Aju
Museum of Art and stayed at Muju Resort
Wed Unjusta Temple, Hwasun, Literature Museum, Sosoaewon Garden, stay at
Damyang Resort
Thurs Bamboo forest, Damyang Bamboo Museum, Haeinsa Temple where we had
a temple stay for the night (wore monks clothes, meditated,slept on the
floor, got up at 3 am to start the day with a visit to the Buddha statue
and meditation.) This temple has the largest collection of wood blocks
to print with in the country.
Fri. Visit to Gyeongju Museum which has a large collection of old Silla
pottery and old clay roof tiles. ( I got to see a famous old roof tile
that has a face on it that I had bought a small replicia of on a
necklace)
Bulgugsa temple and folk industry village.
Sat. Andong Hahoe Village, Buseokea Temple with large clay buddha
covered with gold. Back to Seoul 11:40pm
Sun Airport-home No seats on United so had to buy a real ticket on
Korean Airlines
The Koreans hosted a wonderful well planned IAC conference and took
great care of us. As you can see I got to see a large part of the
countryside of Korea and had a wonderful time.
Helpful Hints
1. Before you go to Korea, email or write the Korea Tourist Board, Los
Angeles and they will send you a wonderful guide book, map and brochures
FREE.
2. At Incheon Airport after you get your luggage, there is a money
exchange counter. At the suggestion of Lee Middleman I exchanged my
money there and got the best rate of anywhere on the trip. Cash or
Traveler's Checks only.
3. No tipping in Korea
4. No free shampoo in hotels, it's for sale in the room's mini bar so
bring your own.
5. If you see something you like, buy it, you may never see it on the
trip again. I bought a wonderful tape of Korean Classical Meditation
Music and listened to it on the long bus rides. I liked it so much I
bought the CD. I could only find this music for sale at the temples.
6. Internet access: The Korean IAC people had a club room at both the
Miranda and Olympic hotels that we could use for free. On the tour the
hotels had computers we could use and there was suppose to be a charge
of 500 won ($4.80) for 15 minutes but they never charged me.
7. Food: Craig Edwards from Clayart told me to be sure and try
Bipimbop and I had it several times and liked it. It is a bowl of
steamed rice with beef and assorted vegetables with an egg on top.
All meals have little condiment dishes around the main dish. Some of
these condiments are quite spicy so be careful.
In general I liked the food and we had a great varitey of korean food on
the trip
Barbara.
Barbara Brown phone/fax 408-736-3889
1225 Manzano Way,Sunnyvale,Ca. 94089
http://www.silverhawk.com/crafts/bbrown97
email: bbrown3@webtv.net
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