Craft Trend Fair 2022 opens its 17th edition at Coex

Designer Teo Yang, the director of Craft Trend Fair 2022, maintains it is crucial to convey the necessity and significance of crafts in the 21st century. “I contemplated on what the ‘trend’ in trend fair means, and what it aims to talk about. I...

Visitors look at crafts on view at the Craft Trend Fair 2022 in Coex, southern Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Designer Teo Yang, who is the director for this year's Craft Trend Fair 2022 [KOREA CRAFT & DESIGN FOUNDATION]

Designer Teo Yang, the director of Craft Trend Fair 2022, maintains it is crucial to convey the necessity and significance of crafts in the 21st century.

“I contemplated on what the ‘trend’ in trend fair means, and what it aims to talk about. I came to the conclusion that it relates to stories that reflect and resonate with the contemporary age.”

The nation’s largest craft fair, hosted and organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation, kicked off its 17th edition Thursday morning at Coex in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District.

The Craft Trend Fair 2022 is a platform for expanding the crafts industry, with approximately 330 individual craftspeople, small studios, art galleries and university students collectively participating in the event. Last year saw some 490,000 visitors during its four-day run with record-high sales.

Visitors look at crafts on view at the Craft Trend Fair 2022 in Coex, southern Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

This year’s main exhibition is being held under the theme “Today’s Questions, Craft Answers,” which intends to “categorize crafts’ roles and how they provide answers to the many different problems created by society today.”

It is comprised of three structures that each represent a separate problem crafts attempt to solve: Standardized Lifestyle, Loss of Humanity and Destruction of the Natural Environment.

Designer Teo Yang, who is the director for this year's Craft Trend Fair 2022, speaks during a press conference at the event on Thursday. [KOREA CRAFT & DESIGN FOUNDATION]

Yang said the problem of Standardized Lifestyle can be overcome because crafts are unique and are capable of creating cultural diversity and “in a world where everything is becoming high tech, crafts help connect people together and start discourses about everyday stories” in terms of Loss of Humanity.

Destruction of the Natural Environment can be dealt with by displaying crafts that are made from sustainable materials and skills.

Yang specializes in interior design and is the CEO of Teo Yang Studio.

Crafts on view at the Craft Trend Fair 2022 in Coex, southern Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Visitors look at crafts made from recycled material at the Craft Trend Fair 2022 on Thursday at Coex, southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

Standardized Lifestyle’s rectangular structure was designed based off gaok, or Korean traditional home, while Loss of Humanity’s section is round, because “a circle also has the meaning of birth, like an egg,” Yang said. “It portrays life.

“The third structure, since it’s all about sustainability, was constructed from a minimum number of materials and those that are recyclable after the fair ends.”

The main exhibition also features a Books of Craft section, which is a collection of 17 books that are about crafts and have been recommended by related experts in the area, including actor Lee Seung-gi, who is the ambassador for Craft Trend Fair 2022.

Visitors look at crafts made from recycled material at the Craft Trend Fair 2022 on Thursday at Coex, southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

“I wondered how much of our lives crafts take up, and I believe I am lucky enough to say that it is more than 50 percent in my case,” Yang said. “It’s not about perceiving crafts as simply a product, but knowing who took the time and effort to make them and learning to respect that specific craft. This aided in changing my consumption patterns and expanding my sense of respect from crafts to people. I really hope that this fair promotes and revitalizes the use of crafts in our lives.”

The Craft Trend Fair 2022 is being held at Coex’s Hall C from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. General admission is 10,000 won ($7.50). For more information, visit the fair’s website, which is available in English, or its Instagram page ( @crafttrendfair ).

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]