Until the mid-20th century, wrapping cloths, known collectively as bojagi, were an integral part of daily Korean life and culture, though overwhelmingly their use was for domestic purposes. Practical and decorative, as well as being used to wrap gifts – how something was wrapped was as important as the gift itself – bojagi had many purposes, such as protecting food and sacred texts, for carrying items, and they also had religious and symbolic functions. Often, they were made for a specific purpose, person or occasion, and cloths had different names depending on their design, use and user.
Made by hand, bojagi were typically square or rectangular, with the size determined by the cloth’s purpose. Commonly made from silk, ramie or hemp, bojagi could be a single piece of fabric, perhaps…
