HIGHLIGHT
Jin-Gyu learned the ancient art of onggi pot-making from his parents. Today, he is the youngest of about 20 people left in Korea who are certified to properly recreate traditional Korean onggi, a process which requires intense physical labor and adherence to traditional guidelines
|
Jin-Gyu learned the ancient art of onggi pot-making from his parents. Today, he is the youngest of about 20 people left in Korea who are certified to properly recreate traditional Korean onggi, a process which requires intense physical labor and adherence to traditional guidelines. The pots are used to hold kimchi, soy bean paste, red pepper paste, and other foods that require air to ferment, which the clay — made from Korean rain water, plants, and mountain soil — provides.
Commonly called hangari, or more traditionally onggi, these jars essential to the fermentation of kimchi and other Korean foods are today produced in large numbers with industrial methods. But there are also Korean potters who’ve stuck to the old ways — and in a select few cases, the very old ways indeed. Take Jin-Gyu, the subject of the video above, a short documentary from Eater’s “Handmade” series.
“I’m the youngest of the intangible cultural assets in Korea,” he says, referring to the official list of Important Intangible Cultural Properties introduced to protect long-standing traditions in music, dance, and craft just as the country began its unprecedented surge into modernity. The making of onggi itself, a process Jin-Gyu demonstrates from start to finish in the video, is Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 96.
Credits:
Producers: Pelin Keskin, Carla Francescutti
Director/Field Producer: Nadia Cho
Camera: Gerald Lee, Tim Han
Editor: Murilo Ferreira
Executive Producer: Stephen Pelletteri
Development Producer: McGraw Wolfman
Coordinating Producer: Stefania Orrù
Audience Engagement: Daniel Geneen, Terri Ciccone
