On the occasion of KICB 2021, Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum presents Cobalt Blue: Dyed for the World of Art as a non-contact online exhibition. This exhibition sheds light on blue-and-white porcelain, the theme of Gwangju Special ExhibitionⅠ, from the perspective of cultural history, and it presents a wide range of contents online.

This exhibition starts by inquiring into the origin of the perception towards blue, followed by the origin of cobalt pigment and the history and background of blue pigment employed in diverse genres of art, such as painting, textiles, glass, and sculpture. The discovery of cobalt pigment led to the creation of blue-and-white porcelain, which spurred a prolonged boom in blue-and-white porcelain all over the world, from Asia to the Islamic world, Europe, and as far as America. Such desire for blue-and-white porcelain overseas influenced Joseon Korea. Blue-and-white porcelain became highly sought-after by the royal family and the literati of Joseon, and a source of inspiration for contemporary art today.

Through images and footage provided by museums from Korea and overseas, the core of this exhibition, and video interviews with artists of contemporary art and experts in color, the way in which the color blue was perceived in the distant past and in contemporary times from various viewpoints is explored and considered. The last section of this online exhibition is an interactive program for the viewers. We hope that this exhibition will serve as a forum to seek the full potential of non-contact exhibition, and an opportunity for the viewers to rediscover the meanings of blue and cobalt-blue in our everyday living.