Bal Allowing Ventilation and Creation of Private Space  

A yeomjang is an artisan who makes bal, a household item made of split bamboos or reeds that are woven together and hung in a doorway to allow air to flow in and out while blocking direct sunlight. Bal used in hanok (traditional Korean house) was designed to block strong sunlight in summer while letting the gentle breeze in, thereby keeping the people inside cool, and also ensured privacy by preventing people outside from looking inside. It is similar to curtains in that it blocks the sun, but it is very different in that it allows air to pass through and allows people inside to look out.

Yeomjang Jo Dae-yong

Jo Dae-yeong, the fourth generation in his family to make daebal, was born on November 3, 1950, in Nosan-ri, Gwangdo-myeon, Tongyeong-gun, the youngest of seven sons and one daughter. Jo’s family history of making daebal goes back about 150 years, starting with his great-grandfather, Jo Nak-sin (born in 1831). In 1856, Jo Nak-sin passed the military service examination and was appointed as the Busajeong of Tongjeyeong Navy Headquarters. While waiting to be appointed after passing the military service exam, he made a bal and offered it to King Cheoljong, who was very pleased and praised him. His legacy was carried on by his son, Jo Seong-yun, who served as the temporary head of Gwangdo-myeon when it was founded in Tongyeong County. It is said that Jo Seong-yun inherited his father’s bal-making skills and made gwiryeommun. This skill of making daebal was then passed down to Jo Dae-yong’s father, Jo Jae-gyu, who would create drawings before weaving bal. Jo Jae-gyu retired in his mid-60s, and afterward, he took up the daebal craft, which he had been practicing on the side, in earnest. He has won a number of awards at various craft competitions as well as the Korea Annual Traditional Handicraft Art Exhibition.

Jo Dae-yong learned the art of making bal while helping his father from about 10 years old. When his father was collecting bamboo, he would help him trim the branches, split bamboo into thin pieces, and weave plain, pattern-less bamboo. After being discharged from the military in 1974, as a trainer at the Army Artillery School, he began to work as a yeomjang in earnest, and his first piece of work was a daebal in the shape of hui (喜), and he began to sell his works from then on. However, he found it difficult to make a living from selling bal, as the demand plummeted due to the use of fans, air conditioners, verticals, and curtains as well as other changes in lifestyle. While making ends meet using other means, he never stopped making bal. In 1975, he made a daebal in collaboration with his father, Jo Jae-gyu, and won a special prize at the fifth National Tourism Folk Crafts Competition. Then he won three participation prizes, a special prize, four honorable mentions, and the Minister of Culture Award at the Korea Annual Traditional Handicraft Art Exhibition before finally being honored with the Presidential Award in 1995. In 2001, he was recognized as a bearer of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Yeomjang. 

Like many practitioners of craftmaking, where there isn’t money to be made, Jo Dae-yong’s heartfelt wish is to be able to devote all of his energy to making bal. This is unfortunately not possible in reality, and the laundromat he runs with his wife has become his livelihood. Jo Dae-yong, a yeomjang, is a craftsman who puts a lot of thought into his works. He strives to transform bal, which used to be one of the most basic necessities in Korean homes, into the most beautiful piece of art. He is doing so by transforming bal, which was intended to facilitate ventilation and provide privacy, into a work of art by applying colorful and beautiful patterns to thinner, finer bamboo pieces. However, in order to create intricate and exquisite patterns, the bal has to be wider, yet the increasingly fine and narrower bamboo pieces cannot support the consequential increase in weight, and this in turn causes the bal to sag forward and downward a little, a problem that Jo Dae-yong also acknowledges and is working hard to overcome. He is a craftsman who has mastered the techniques of the past, but is also thinking of ways to take the art form to the next level. 

Works

- Huijagwigammunbal [囍字龜甲紋簾] _ 135×190 cm

It was made from Siritdae bamboo collected in December, which is the dormant season, because this is when Siritdae bamboo is thin yet so resilient that it does not break easily. With guigammun as the basic pattern, double hui [囍] characters were engraved.