UI graduate student studies rare, dying Korean art

UI graduate student studies rare, dying Korean art

BY AARON WALKER | NOVEMBER 07, 2014 5:00 AM

University of Iowa graduate student Steph Rue is reinvigorating her Korean heritage by helping revitalize a fading artistic tradition.

Rue studies hanji, the ancient Korean art of papermaking and its connection with Buddhist spirituality. Hanji literally translates to the paper of Korea.

I am Korean-American. I kind of came back to my heritage through finding the hanji, Rue said. It allows me to understand a lot more of my own culture. Artifacts made with this paper can speak a lot to traditional Korean heritage and developments in Korean history.

Rue said hanji is a dying art.

While in the West it is rare to find paper more than 400 years old, hanji artifacts date back to the eighth century.

But hanji is not only used as paper.

Its a thick material, made from the inner bark of mulberry trees, that can be used as anything from wallpaper to armor.

Its so durable, they say Korean paper lasts 1,000 years, Rue said.

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UI graduate student studies rare, dying Korean art

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