[Instagram Walk] mwm - My First Ever Pottery #Eongmangijiman Pretty

Popular Ceramic Dessert Dishes for New Businesses
Traditional Pottery Technique 'Yeonrimun' Gives a Marble Effect

High Satisfaction with Unique Design Works
70,000 Followers Gained Through Instagram Word of Mouth

Home Kit Sets Also Popular in the Contactless Era

Interior view of 'mwm'. Pottery handcrafted by CEO Suji Choi is displayed throughout the store. Photo by Heo Midam damdam@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] There’s no need to recall Confucius’s saying, On-go-i-ji-shin (溫故而知新), meaning “learning new things by reviewing the old.” Just as the word “reverse trend” has recently become popular, “Newtro,” a trend that reinterprets the old with a modern sensibility, has firmly established itself. This applies not only culturally but also spatially. Recently, places imbued with Newtro vibes hidden throughout Seoul have been rediscovered one after another, attracting crowds of visitors. Among them, Euljiro is considered a representative Newtro hotspot. Once filled with old printing shops and ironworks and rarely visited, Euljiro has developed its commercial district over the past few years and even earned the nickname “Hipjiro.” It’s common to see people strolling the streets in search of “hot” shops hidden inside shabby buildings. Many shops don’t even have proper signboards, which, interestingly, adds to the fun of finding them for the younger generation. The place we visited this time offers a unique experience by combining a caf? and a ceramic workshop. Well-known among Instagrammers, the caf? and ceramic studio “mwm,” boasting over 70,000 followers, is the star of the show.

It takes about five minutes on foot from Exit 11 of Euljiro 3-ga Station to reach this spot. It feels like a quiet hideout tucked away inside a shabby building. Since there’s no elevator, climbing up the stairs to the fourth floor where the shop is located can make you sweat in the midsummer heat. Opening the snow-white painted door, sunlight pours in through the large window, welcoming guests. Various ceramics are displayed throughout the space. From colorful, design-stimulating bowls to uniquely colored ceramic cups and cute animal-shaped incense holders, there’s plenty of fun in exploring the diverse pottery. In the center of the space, there’s a spacious wooden table that can easily seat eight people, where ceramic classes are held.

Bowls made by CEO Choi Suji. The unique colors catch the eye. Photo by Heo Midam damdam@asiae.co.kr

“mwm,” which stands for “mess we made,” was created in March 2018 by CEO Choi Suji (34), who shapes ceramics, and CEO Jeon Suman (34), who takes photographs. Starting as a workshop and caf?, CEO Choi said, “We both do something creative. At first, we didn’t know what or how to make things together, so we decided to ‘make a mess’ and named the shop mwm.”

Although it is now one of the representative caf?s of Hipjiro, it wasn’t famous from the start. The main reason for the shop’s popularity was the ceramics made by CEO Choi herself. Having majored in ceramics during university, she served desserts on the dishes she made from the beginning. Customers who noticed the unique colors gradually began to inquire about purchasing the ceramics. CEO Choi expressed gratitude, saying, “Maybe because they didn’t feel like mass-produced items, people showed a lot of interest in the ceramics.” She added, “Ceramics can feel very different with subtle variations. Depending on the details, colors and shapes can change, so we have to pay close attention to many aspects.”

The secret behind CEO Choi’s eye-catching ceramics lies in her ceramic techniques. She mixes ceramic pigments into the clay to create the desired colors. Then, she adds other colors to produce bowls with a distinctive marbled effect. The resulting ceramics feature a blend of colors, giving them a vibrant yet unique feel. CEO Choi explained, “Marbling is one of the traditional ceramic techniques called ‘Yeonrimun.’ It involves mixing clays of different colors, such as celadon and white porcelain clays, and we have modernized and applied this technique.”

Moreover, this place offers customers the opportunity to make ceramics themselves. Considering that making ceramics requires a lot of care and a high-temperature kiln is essential, it’s not easy for non-ceramists to create ceramics on their own. However, here, anyone can make ceramics. CEO Choi said, “We opened classes because we realized we couldn’t meet the diverse and precise needs of customers with ready-made ceramics.”

Sunlight is pouring through the large window. Photo by Heo Midam damdam@asiae.co.kr

The ceramic classes are especially popular among people in their 20s and 30s, most of whom are first-time ceramic makers. CEO Choi said, “Since customers can directly reproduce the designs they imagine in their heads, their satisfaction is high. Also, many develop affection for their works because they put so much care into them.”

The home kits, which allow people to make ceramics alone at home, also attract attention. Customers make mini bowls, incense holders, and other items themselves and send them to the shop, where the pieces are fired in the kiln and the finished works are sent back to the customers. CEO Choi said, “Many people from the provinces canceled their ceramic class reservations due to COVID-19, so we prepared home kits thinking that small ceramics could be made sufficiently at home.”

CEO Choi’s goal is to expand mwm’s reach. She said, “If we had only run a ceramic workshop, it might have been harder to approach customers. But by having customers drink coffee while naturally becoming interested in ceramics, the entry barrier feels much lower. Although overseas expansion has been delayed due to COVID-19 and other factors, the ultimate goal is to promote the unique charm of mwm ceramics abroad.” Just as the glow of ceramics that have endured the intense kiln heat rarely fades, the future mwm will unfold looks bright.

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