Produced and executed during the pandemic, this second project was a great opportunity to reflect on and rethink the meanings of the five traditional colors that our Korean ancestors implemented in our everyday lives. The beautiful colors that have played a big role in shaping our Korean culture are reinterpreted by 301 Project to share our often lost history.

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Korean culture has been a color based culture derived from yin-yang (eumyang 음양) and the five elements (ohaeng 오행) also known as eumyangohaeng (음양오행). The abstracted energies of yin-yang and the five elements formed the sky and the earth. The two energies from the sky and the earth created the five elements: wood (mok 목 木), fire (hwa 화 火), soil (tto 토 土), gold (geum 금 金), and water (su 수 水). The basis of the five elements became our traditional colors assigned with the five cardinal directions; blue representing the east, white representing the west, red representing the south, black representing the north, and yellow representing the center of the universe. All this meaning put into one word, Obangsaek (오방색). 

To our ancestors, Obangaek was not only used as elements of pursuing beauty in their everyday lives but used as symbolic meanings to express the harmony of the five elements of yin-yang. The traditional colors were not only used as mere colors but also played a role in our traditional food, clothing, wishing for good luck, and driving away bad energy. 

This project, produced in 2020 was a great opportunity to reflect on and rethink the meanings of the five traditional colors that our Korean ancestors implemented in their everyday lives. The beautiful colors that have played a big role in shaping our Korean culture are reinterpreted by 301 Project to share our often lost history.