Gasil Village: Damyang's Traditional Bamboo Crafts Community

Gasil Village (가실마을) is a craft community within Damyang County, South Jeolla Province, part of Korea's most celebrated bamboo-growing region. The village is home to a cluster of artisan workshops where traditional bamboo weaving (죽공예, jukgongye) is practised by both elderly masters and younger apprentices who have chosen to continue the craft lineage. Visitors can observe the full production process — from selecting and splitting mature bamboo culms to the intricate weaving of tea trays, fish traps, food covers, and decorative panels — and purchase directly from the makers.

Damyang has been Korea's centre of bamboo crafts since at least the Joseon period, when the county's moist climate and fertile soil produced bamboo of exceptional flexibility. Damyang bamboo products were sent as royal tribute and are documented in fifteenth-century court records. The craft reached its commercial peak in the 1930s to 1960s when Damyang bamboo goods were exported across East Asia. Plastic displaced bamboo household goods from the 1970s, devastating the craft community — but a cultural revival beginning in the 2000s, backed by government support and growing interest in sustainable design, has restored both the market and the practitioner community.

Master artisans at Gasil Village offer hands-on workshops lasting two to three hours in which visitors learn to weave small bamboo trays or cup holders under guided instruction. The village also holds a regular outdoor market where bamboo products from across Damyang are sold. Combined with the nearby Juknokwon Bamboo Garden — one of Korea's most famous bamboo forests — a visit to Gasil makes for a full day of bamboo-themed culture and craft.

Workshop sessions must be booked in advance through the Damyang County tourism website. The village is a 20-minute drive from Damyang town centre; local buses stop at the main road junction, from which a 10-minute walk reaches the craft workshops. Visiting on a weekday ensures workshops are in active operation.