Global fashion houses have recently incorporated traditional Korean motifs within their inspiration. This trend is an opportunity to showcase the colors of traditional Korean culture by investing in the new design content. Products specifically based on traditional Korean culture are lacking in brand awareness despite the success of Korean content. Accordingly, this study designs cultural products based on Korean folk painting that captures Korean people’s satirical sense of humor. Korean folk painting theories are analyzed, from which different types of folk paintings are classified based on research of bibliographies and online documents. Following classification, the results are dataized as different types of folk paintings and their meanings. Furthermore, images of folk paintings are categorized and scanned digitally. The digitized images of the folk paintings are processed through Adobe Photoshop CS for overall layout and Adobe Illustrator CS for detailed designs. Traditional categories of Korean folk paintings are used, including flowers and birds, letters, and study stationery. Using the main elements of the flower and birds category, designs with cultural products such as images of flowers, birds, animals, and fish are produced. The final designs are used to create fashion items that can easily be used for embellishment or self-presentation: a scarf and a necktie. The scarf and the necktie are not only merchandise; they also symbolize the story, humor, and hope that Korean folk paintings once symbolized.

본 논문은 민간회화로서 민화의 가치를 인문학적 관점에서 성찰하고자 하는 것이다. 그 동안 민화에 관한 연구는 무명(無名)의 작가에 의해 제작된 ‘생활화’라는 이유로 미술사 안에서 연구가 부진했었다. 이러한 연유로 연구자마다 민화의 개념과 특성을 조금씩 다르게 설정하기도 한다. 이 같은 여건에서 본 논문에서는 민화의 주요한 특성을 민간회화로서 민화만이 갖는 가치가 있다고 보고 이를 주제로 설정한 후, 통속세계의 보편성을 중심으로 살펴보고자 한다. 민화가 유행할 시기에 중국에서는 민간 연화가 성행하였으며, 다른 동아시아에서도 민간회화가 부흥한 측면이 있다. 여기서는 우리 민화와 가장 연관성이 짙은 중국의 민간연화와의 비교분석을 통해 민화가 지닌 민간회화로서의 미적 특수성을 찾고자 한다. 민간연화는 우리의 문배(門排)에 해당하는 문신(門神)에 기원을 두고 있으며, 그림의 도상이나 내용적 측면에서 여러 비슷한 점을 공유하고 있다. 특히 생산자와 향유자가 같은 층에서 이루어졌기 때문에 민간의 사상이나 감성이 집약되어 있는 예술이라는 공통점이 있다. 이것은 문화를 독점했던 계층이 다 수의 대중으로 이동했다는 것을 알려준 것이며, 통속적인 그림의 예술성을 인 정한 최초의 사례라고 할 수 있다. 본 논문에서는 민화가 최초의 대중예술로 서 가치가 있으며, 이것은 민화의 본질일 이해하는데 매우 중요한 요소라는 점을 말하고자 한다.

This article is based on the observation of <Braille Painting·Munja(Character) Painting>, an educational program for the culturally underprivileged people for the first half of 2013 by the National Folk Museum of Korea, and provides observation and analysis of the process how the visually challenged people experience and apprehend traditional art through the museum’s education program that focuses on Hyoje Munjado(character painting), traditional Korean folk painting. The <Braille Painting·Munja(Character) Painting> program helped the attendees with visual disability to learn about the folk painting, Hyoje Munjado, exhibited in the museum, and re-interpret and visualize the meaning of eight characters of Hyo Je Choong Shin Ye Ui Yeom Chi (filial piety, brotherly love, loyalty, sincerity, etiquette, fidelity, integrity, and shame) based on one’s unique experience, and create an art work of their own. This program was distinct as it allowed those with visual disability to learn about the ethics and culture of the Chosun society through the contents of Hyoje Munjado, while at the same time helped them experience the process of art creation by making an art work of one’s own. Hyoje Munjado is a special type of painting in which eight Chinese characters of Hyo Je Choong Shin Ye Ui Yeom Chi, the key ethical virtues of the Chosun society, were written and old sayings and figures are symbolized and drawn into the strokes in the eight Chinese characters. The ethical virtues expressed in the painting are still considered socially important and the program attendees can understand the meaning of the Hyoje Munjado reflected in their life and create their own munjado based on such contextual understanding. The program demonstrates how suitable a contextual understanding from constructivism perspective is in the exhibition and education of museums for the museum visitors with diverse cultural background, knowledge, and environment as well as the visually challenged. Furthermore, the program clearly indicates the effects of a constructivism education that creates a new meaning through a contextual interpretation of experiences in the education for the visually challenged. Although the program started out of an exploration into how to enable those with visual disability experience art, it also appears to be effective in allowing people with rare access to art and history of art experience art in their daily life experience.