Christine Lee
Forgotten Faces
Preserving Cultural Heritage Through Design
Forgotten Faces is a design project that reinterprets the Hahoe Mask, a traditional Korean mask, in a modern design context.
While the ethnic identity crisis has become one of the emerging issues in our multicultural society, the significance of preserving forgotten cultural heritage is closely intertwined. One of the cultural heritages that is being forgotten in our contemporary society is the traditional mask. Traditional masks have held an important place throughout history in different cultures around the world. It reflects our ancestors, values, and beliefs, which embody our national identity.
The project focuses on the traditional Korean mask, Hahoetal, with “tal” meaning “mask” in Korean. It is a cultural heritage that embodies the identity of Korea. The aim is to raise awareness about Hahoetal and its values in the hopes of inheriting and preserving them in a contemporary context.
The kit-based design artefact, which is a gift box, consists of nine illustrated postcards alongside an informative booklet. Each postcard highlights one of the mask characters from the Hahoe mask, with brief stories about each character on the other side of the postcard. The illustrations are reinterpreted through simplified illustrations while maintaining the basic shape of the mask and their traditional images. The postcards can also be worn as a mask, which gives a masking experience by utilising the postcard as another medium. The booklet further provides information about the mask and its characters, along with illustrations.
Through this project, I hope the project of Hahoetal acts as an entry point to raise awareness about traditional masks around the world.
