Jeonbuk Buan Cheongja Gains Popularity at China's 'Jingdezhen International Ceramic Fair'

Average Daily Visitors Exceed 1,000
County Governor Kwon Ik-hyun: "Positive Signs for Ceramic Exchange and Market Expansion"

Jeonbuk Buan, the birthplace of Goryeo inlay celadon representing Korea, gained great popularity at the '2024 Jingdezhen International Ceramic Fair' held in Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province, China, with an average of about 1,000 visitors per day.

According to Buan County on the 21st, a variety of works were prepared for this fair, ranging from traditional reproductions of Goryeo celadon to modern interpretations.

More than 100 pieces were exhibited, including five works such as 'Celadon Inlay Landscape Pattern Maebyeong' by Lee Eun-gyu, a master craftsman of intangible cultural heritage of Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province, as well as works by Buan official kilns and members of the Buan Ceramics Association. The exhibition of reproduced Goryeo inlay celadon works provided a rare opportunity to visually confirm whether Chinese celadon that had crossed over to Korea in the past transformed into Goryeo inlay celadon, attracting great interest.

At the '2024 Jingdezhen International Ceramic Fair' held from the 18th to the 22nd in Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province, China, the promotional booth for Jeonbuk Buan Sanggam Celadon attracted an average of about 1,000 visitors per day, gaining great popularity.
[Photo by Buan-gun]

Now in its 21st year, this fair is a large-scale international ceramics event where changes and trends in the international ceramics market can be observed in one place. Held over five days from the 18th to the 22nd, it attracted more than 2,000 global ceramics companies, about 1.5 million visitors, and over 3,500 buyers, facilitating active international exchanges.

The Buan delegation participated in the fair and toured ceramic-related tourism and industrial facilities in the Taoxichuan (淘溪川) area, as well as specialized ceramic universities and museums. Through this, they plan to promote tourism and industrialization using Buan celadon, remodel old ceramic factories into landmarks, and analyze how the Taoshichuan (陶石泉) cultural industrial complex (cultural zone), a representative case of tourism utilization, has gained attention as the world's top ceramic tourism and industrial site, applying these insights to Buan County’s situation.

In particular, at the fair, Buan celadon’s excellence was recognized as it was invited to promotional booths by other Chinese fairs and art institutions such as the Ningbo Tea Fair, Fujian Craft Museum, and Shanghai Tea Fair. Chinese CCTV and Jiangxi Province’s JTV broadcasted exclusive programs promoting Buan, the birthplace of Goryeo inlay celadon.

Additionally, the Celadon Research Institute of Hunan Province in China visited the Buan celadon promotional booth and expressed interest in learning about Buan celadon.

Kwon Ik-hyun, the governor of Buan County, discussed future cooperation plans for the ceramics industry with Enpei, deputy director of the China Advanced Ceramics Research Institute; Oh Yang, director of the Shangwei Advanced Ceramics Research Institute; Professor Zhao Xin of Jingdezhen Ceramic University; and the ceramic ambassador of Luzhou.

Governor Kwon Ik-hyun said, "It is highly meaningful to promote Buan, the birthplace of Goryeo inlay celadon, and to introduce Buan celadon, which developed the celadon brought from China into a unique inlay celadon that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world, to the global market. This fair will serve as a stepping stone for ceramic exchanges and market expansion with China."

He added, "We plan to review other invited fairs that could help promote Buan celadon and prepare additional promotional plans for Buan celadon."