Opening of 'Mapo Craft Center' to Lead Mapo-gu Craft Culture Industry

Creation of a 103㎡ 'Craft Industry Hub' near Gyeongui Line Forest Trail Craft Workshop Street... Roles include craft exhibition and sales, basic survey of craft industry status, establishment of worker council... Exhibition and sales space 'MA-POREST'... All sales proceeds paid to craft artists as support

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Mapo-gu (Mayor Yudonggyun) held the opening ceremony of the Mapo Craft Center, established to promote the development of local craft culture projects, on the 13th.

The Mapo Craft Center (34 Seongmisan-ro 27-gil) is a facility created in September with 480 million KRW secured from city funds to revitalize the region’s specialized craft industry and tourism business.

The Yeonnam-dong area, where the center is located, has a craft workshop street along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, attracting many visitors and tourists, making it an optimal environment for craft creators and consumers to meet.

The Mapo Craft Center consists of a first floor (33㎡) exhibition and sales space for crafts and a third floor (70㎡) craft research office and education room.

The first floor space operates ▲an exhibition hall ▲craft product sales and experience programs ▲craft flea market events.

The third floor focuses on tasks for the development of the craft industry, including ▲research on revitalization plans for craft culture ▲basic surveys of the Mapo craft industry and production of workshop maps ▲establishment of a cooperative body for Mapo craft workers.

In particular, MA-POREST, the first-floor exhibition and sales space, is a place where anyone can easily purchase craft products created by Mapo area craft creators. All profits from crafts sold at MA-POREST are paid entirely to the craft artists without any brokerage fees. MA-POREST signifies gaining rest through crafts and forming a tree (forest) of creation.

Mapo-gu plans to further activate this craft culture hub and commercial district to create a structure where producers and consumers can freely meet and craft product consumption can expand.

Meanwhile, the opening ceremony of the Mapo Craft Center on the 13th included a commemorative plaque ceremony, a tour of the craft center, a small-scale handmade craft market, craft experience programs, and citizen SNS participation events.

Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, who attended the opening ceremony, said, “Craft is the most practical and creative art made by human hands. Since urban competitiveness grows from such rich artistic resources, we will do our best to support this as an important hub for the activation of local craft culture and craft product distribution.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.