C.E.M. The Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum
The opening of this global Embroidery Museum was enabled by the synergy of vision between Sookmyung Women’s University - a leading center for the study of international management and the cultivation of cultural leaders -and that of Dr. Young Yang Chung, who maintains the goal of training future generations of embroiderers worldwide.
The collection of the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum (C.E.M.) is based on the historical textiles that provided the foundation for the academic research of Dr. Young Yang Chung. The Museum enhances public awareness and appreciation of embroidery’s historical significance by exhibiting these embroidery works, which come from around the world and date from ancient times to the present day, and encouraging their study.
And Dr. Chung, the Founder and Director of C.E.M., is a leading scholar in her field, and is known for pioneering the academically systematized study of embroidery and thereby publicizing the artistic achievement of Korean embroidery to a worldwide audience.
The opening of this global Embroidery Museum was enabled by the synergy of vision between Sookmyung Women’s University - a leading center for the study of international management and the cultivation of cultural leaders -and that of Dr. Young Yang Chung, who maintains the goal of training future generations of embroiderers worldwide.
The collection of the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum (C.E.M.) is based on the historical textiles that provided the foundation for the academic research of Dr. Young Yang Chung. The Museum enhances public awareness and appreciation of embroidery’s historical significance by exhibiting these embroidery works, which come from around the world and date from ancient times to the present day, and encouraging their study.
And Dr. Chung, the Founder and Director of C.E.M., is a leading scholar in her field, and is known for pioneering the academically systematized study of embroidery and thereby publicizing the artistic achievement of Korean embroidery to a worldwide audience.
The Dawn of Embroidery Art
She is a renowned teacher of embroidery, and during the economically difficult period of Korea’s post-war reconstruction, Dr. Chung was able to harness this art form to positively impact many Korean women's lives. In 1965 she founded her own institute, the International Embroidery School, and produced a new generation of Korean embroidery artists.
In 1967, under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Work, she established Korea's first vocational embroidery center, The Women's Center. This school provided opportunities for numerous young women who needed gainful work.
In the same year, she was invited by the Japan Handicraft Association to present an exhibition of her and her students’ embroidery at the prestigious Ikenobo Women's Finishing School in Japan. When Dr. Chung announced that entrance fee proceeds would be donated to provide embroidery supplies for schools teaching handicapped children in Tokyo, this was seen as remarkable gesture for a Korean woman, and the exhibition was extended with the financial support of a local hotel. Recognition such as this opened a valuable route to marketing the works created by her students, which in turn enabled the school to support itself financially.
Her mission to promote Korean embroidery led to her to Iran in 1968, where she exhibited her work in conjunction with the Tehran World's Fair. The exhibition of her embroidery in Cairo, Egypt, supported by the Korea Trade Association, also served to elevate Korea’s national prestige in this area of the world.
In the late 1960s, Dr. Chung was featured in a documentary on young women of achievement, produced by the Korean television station KBS. This publicity eventually led to more invitations to exhibit her embroidery abroad, from the U.S. to Japan and Europe, which garnered her international fame.
"Small needles and homespun threads proved to be powerful, life-changing tools that provided me and other Korean women with a viable vocation as well as an expressive and rewarding creative outlet... needlework carried me from a small Korean village of 30 families along a fascinating pathway across time and geographic region."
Painting with a Needle (2003)
Painting with a Needle (2003)
She is a renowned teacher of embroidery, and during the economically difficult period of Korea’s post-war reconstruction, Dr. Chung was able to harness this art form to positively impact many Korean women's lives. In 1965 she founded her own institute, the International Embroidery School, and produced a new generation of Korean embroidery artists.
In 1967, under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Work, she established Korea's first vocational embroidery center, The Women's Center. This school provided opportunities for numerous young women who needed gainful work.
In the same year, she was invited by the Japan Handicraft Association to present an exhibition of her and her students’ embroidery at the prestigious Ikenobo Women's Finishing School in Japan. When Dr. Chung announced that entrance fee proceeds would be donated to provide embroidery supplies for schools teaching handicapped children in Tokyo, this was seen as remarkable gesture for a Korean woman, and the exhibition was extended with the financial support of a local hotel. Recognition such as this opened a valuable route to marketing the works created by her students, which in turn enabled the school to support itself financially.
Her mission to promote Korean embroidery led to her to Iran in 1968, where she exhibited her work in conjunction with the Tehran World's Fair. The exhibition of her embroidery in Cairo, Egypt, supported by the Korea Trade Association, also served to elevate Korea’s national prestige in this area of the world.
In the late 1960s, Dr. Chung was featured in a documentary on young women of achievement, produced by the Korean television station KBS. This publicity eventually led to more invitations to exhibit her embroidery abroad, from the U.S. to Japan and Europe, which garnered her international fame.
Scholastic Achievement in the Art of Embroidery
In the U.S., she devoted considerable time and effort to the study of Western and Eastern embroideries in the Textile Study Room at the Metropolitan Museum of art. The affirmation of East Asian identity and history remained one of the main objectives in Young Yang Chung's embroidery as well as her scholarly activities.
She completed her Masters and Ph.D. in Art Education at New York University. Her Ph.D. dissertation, entitled The Origins and Historical Development of Embroidery in China, Japan, and Korea was the first in-depth academic study of this topic, providing the foundation for embroidery as an academic field. As a rare reference on this little-studied subject, her doctoral dissertation was published in 1978 in book form by UMI Dissertation Services.
In the 1970s, Dr. Chung was called in as a consultant for an exhibition of Chinese dragon robes at the Metropolitan Museum, and had the opportunity to study the response of the visitors. This inspired Dr. Chung to set forth on a campaign - through lectures, demonstrations, writings, teaching, workshops, and exhibitions of her work - to elevate the public conception and knowledge of embroidery.
Her first book, The Art of Oriental Embroidery (published in 1979), became a standard reference in the field, and in it she emphasized embroidery's antiquity, and challenged the notion that textiles are “minor arts.” These pioneering efforts introduced East Asian embroidery to Western audiences, and fostered an ever-increasing appreciation of and interest in the art of silk embroidery.
Western enthusiasm for Asian embroidery eventually led, for example, to the establishment of the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta, which teaches traditional Asian techniques to American students. Her works have been acquired by museums such as the Smithsonian Institution.
The Future of Embroidery Art
The museum's collection includes hundreds of historical examples, ranging from a 4th to 3rd century BCE bronze mirror with an embroidered silk cover, right up to the present day. Also included are forms such as embroidered Chinese votive textiles, ecclesiastical robes, military uniforms, folding screens, wedding garments, chair and table coverings, Chinese court costumes, and rank insignia, as well as Japanese embroidery. The wide scope of the collection illuminates the cross-cultural dialogues in technique and style that have enriched textile arts worldwide.
Housed in a newly constructed building that includes exhibition galleries, a library, conservations studios (including the C.E.M. Textile Study Center), classrooms, and a seminar room for exhibition, education and study.
Also learning center in the museum which teaches textile art technique, leads study and popularization of textile art.
In the U.S., she devoted considerable time and effort to the study of Western and Eastern embroideries in the Textile Study Room at the Metropolitan Museum of art. The affirmation of East Asian identity and history remained one of the main objectives in Young Yang Chung's embroidery as well as her scholarly activities.
She completed her Masters and Ph.D. in Art Education at New York University. Her Ph.D. dissertation, entitled The Origins and Historical Development of Embroidery in China, Japan, and Korea was the first in-depth academic study of this topic, providing the foundation for embroidery as an academic field. As a rare reference on this little-studied subject, her doctoral dissertation was published in 1978 in book form by UMI Dissertation Services.
In the 1970s, Dr. Chung was called in as a consultant for an exhibition of Chinese dragon robes at the Metropolitan Museum, and had the opportunity to study the response of the visitors. This inspired Dr. Chung to set forth on a campaign - through lectures, demonstrations, writings, teaching, workshops, and exhibitions of her work - to elevate the public conception and knowledge of embroidery.
Her first book, The Art of Oriental Embroidery (published in 1979), became a standard reference in the field, and in it she emphasized embroidery's antiquity, and challenged the notion that textiles are “minor arts.” These pioneering efforts introduced East Asian embroidery to Western audiences, and fostered an ever-increasing appreciation of and interest in the art of silk embroidery.
Western enthusiasm for Asian embroidery eventually led, for example, to the establishment of the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta, which teaches traditional Asian techniques to American students. Her works have been acquired by museums such as the Smithsonian Institution.
The Future of Embroidery Art
The museum's collection includes hundreds of historical examples, ranging from a 4th to 3rd century BCE bronze mirror with an embroidered silk cover, right up to the present day. Also included are forms such as embroidered Chinese votive textiles, ecclesiastical robes, military uniforms, folding screens, wedding garments, chair and table coverings, Chinese court costumes, and rank insignia, as well as Japanese embroidery. The wide scope of the collection illuminates the cross-cultural dialogues in technique and style that have enriched textile arts worldwide.
Housed in a newly constructed building that includes exhibition galleries, a library, conservations studios (including the C.E.M. Textile Study Center), classrooms, and a seminar room for exhibition, education and study.
Also learning center in the museum which teaches textile art technique, leads study and popularization of textile art.