Guija Jeong

Minhwa Master, Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 18

Practice

Jeong Gwi-ja (art name Jeong Seung-hee) works in minhwa, Korean folk painting, a genre historically distinct from the court and literati painting traditions more commonly represented in Western collections of Korean art. She trained under the late Kim Man-hee, a Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage holder in the discipline, from 1978, and was designated a Transmission Assistant in the same tradition before her own recognition.

In 2019, she was designated Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 18, Minhwa-jang, succeeding Kim Man-hee as the first such holder in the field. Her standing within the discipline is a matter of institutional record, not self-designation. She operates the Arok Traditional Minhwa Research Institute and continues to teach through the Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage Donhwamun Education Center.

Lineage

1978 | began practice in minhwa under Kim Man-hee, Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage holder 2012 | Presidential Citation, Office of the President of the Republic of Korea 2019 | designated Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 18, Minhwa-jang — the first such designation in the discipline 2019 | Grand Prize, Craft Division, Seoul Munhwa Today Culture Awards — the first such recognition awarded to a minhwa artist in the award's history Works held in the permanent collections of the Korean Cultural Centers in Hanoi, Osaka, and Sofia, and in Niigata, Japan. International presentations include the Belvedere Museum, Vienna, alongside invitational exhibitions across Japan, the United States, Australia, China, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Russia.