Photo credit: Ruth Hogben for ABT
Trefoil or “three-leaved plant” is a stylized form found in artifacts and architecture across culture and time. Dr. Minjee Kim begins the story with her first encounter with a gold headdress ornament of the Balhae kingdom (698-926) and traces the migration of its trefoil form throughout the 4th-6th century across Asia. Then, she travels to France, where “fleur-de-lis” adorned French crowns, clothing, textiles, and furniture as a symbol of royalty, leading to its wide contemporary appropriation by many Western institutions. The journey ends with the long and rich tradition in Kyrgyzstan where the motif is still strongly embedded in various realms of material culture of the people.
While offering a view on Korean artifacts within a wider context of material resonance in human history, Dr. Kim highlights the way these artifacts adorned the body and how the craftsmanship was employed to articulate the social hierarchy.
Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this program will be conducted virtually. This live session will be provided free of charge at the specified date and time. A limited number of viewing links will be provided to the people who sign up through the form below. Those unable to view the live session will have the opportunity to watch the recorded video or listen to the podcast soon after.
A Sacred Emblem: Trefoil in Early Korean Metalwork and Beyond
with Dr. Minjee Kim
Thursday, October 8, 2020 | 6 PM
The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Minjee Kim is a historian and lecturer specializing in Korean dress and textiles, based in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2001. She received her PhD from Seoul National University, and formerly taught at Jeonju Kijeon College and Seoul National University in Korea, and Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is a co-editor of Korean Dress History: Critical Perspectives on Primary Sources (London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming in 2021).
