Bojagi Wrapping Cloths

A bojagi is a square of cloth used to wrap, carry, cover and present things, and the kind that draws collectors is jogakbo - pieced together from leftover scraps, since fabric was too valuable to waste. The seams are the point: worked with a technique that finishes both faces, so the cloth has no wrong side, and when held to a window the joins read as a grid of translucent colour that twentieth-century viewers immediately compared to Mondrian. They were made by women in the home, never signed, and were not considered art at the time; almost all surviving pieces are anonymous. There was a belief that stitching a bojagi gathered good fortune for whoever received what it wrapped, which is why they were used for wedding gifts and ceremonial exchange. The Seoul Museum of Craft Art holds a substantial collection, and workshops teaching the seam are easy to find.

What to look for

• Jogakbo patchwork - scraps pieced into translucent grids.
• The reversible seam - finished on both faces, no wrong side.
• The anonymity - unsigned work by women, all of it.
• The ceremonial use - wrapping for gifts and weddings.

When to go

Any season. The Seoul Museum of Craft Art is free and closed Mondays. Hold a piece to the light if the display allows - flat on a wall it loses most of its effect.

Good to know

Not a place but a craft, seen in museum cases and workshops. Much of what is sold to visitors is machine-made reproduction. Hand-stitched antique pieces are collector-priced.

Nearby

The Seoul Museum of Craft Art and Bukchon studios are close together near Anguk.