It is the most-eye-catching piece in the Korean Royal Heritage Attire show at the Korean Cultural Centre in Abu Dhabi – a heavy ceremonial headpiece (daesumeori) that the queens of South Korea's Joseong dynasty wore at royal ceremonies.
The original is on display at the national museum in Seoul, but this modern, equally elaborate replica was painstakingly crafted by one of Korea’s last jade craftsmen, Young-hee Kim – an expert in traditional jade carving – who is among the experts who have flown in from Seoul for the show.
It is easy to imagine how this elaborate headpiece must have weighed upon the queen. As well as jade, Kim used 13 kinds of precious stones and metal, including gold and pearls.
“Two maids were required to hold the daesumeori while she was moving, as it weighs 3.5 kg,” says Kim, who is based in Bukchon, a south Korean town known as the centre of the country’s traditional crafts. “It must have given her quite a headache.”
These days, rather than being simply locked away in a museum, the ornamental jewellery Young Hee makes is used in Korean soap operas and films.
“I feel a weight of responsibility to continue this tradition, because this is our pride and history,” he says, adding that his 32-year-old son is a student of the craft.
While hanji (paper craft) specialist Hwa-Sook Shim’s beautiful boxes are decorated with cut-out coloured paper and echo modern styles, fifth-generation gold-leaf artist Gi-ho Kim, along with his wife and father, now figures among only a handful of Korean traditional gold-leaf artists in the world.
Kim points at the display of stunning ceremonial robes decorated with patterns of phoenixes and dragons, the likes of which were worn by royalty about 100 years ago, and describes the ancient procedure used to embellish silk with gold leaf: “I use my fingers to crush the gold leaf, then I cover a wooden block in the gold and stamp it onto the clothes using glue.”
Although the traditional handicraft is disappearing, similar robes are worn today by Koreans on their wedding day.
“Yes, we still get married in these,” says Kim, proudly showing off the outfits.
• The Korean Royal Heritage Attire exhibition runs until June 2 at the Korean Cultural Centre, twofour54 campus, near Khalifa Park, Abu Dhabi. Open from 9am to 6pm, Sunday to Thursday. Visit uae.korean-culture.org
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