Korean exhibition at Katara offers glimpses of Jeju women divers' life

Doha: Qatar and South Korea s diving heritage takes center stage in the Jeju Haenyeo Exhibition unveiled on Sunday at Katara, in cooperation with th...

Doha: Qatar and South Korea’s diving heritage takes center stage in the “Jeju Haenyeo” Exhibition unveiled on Sunday at Katara, in cooperation with the Korean Embassy in Qatar.

The exhibition showcases the way of life of Haenyeo, which is translated as “women divers” who hail from South Korea’s popular Jeju Island. Haenyeo, or women divers, are known for diving deep into the open sea to catch various kinds of seafood such as sea snails, seaweed, abalones, conches, and many others in order to make a living.

Haenyeo’s unique fishing techniques are what sets them apart from other diving cultures around the globe. Haenyeo is known for diving into the open sea, ranging from one to two minutes, without any breathing apparatus -- a sustainable choice by divers to preserve these natural resources and prevent them from being exhausted through mass harvesting. The divers then resurface with a fresh catch of seafood and make a distinctive whistling sound called “sumbisori” as they gasp for air.

The heritage is intricately captured in the exhibition through a display of images, traditional diving outfits, and equipment such as swimming goggles, Tewak Mangsari (from “Tewak” a buoyant tool used by divers to navigate seafood harvesting locations, and “Mangsari” a fishnet attached to the Tewak to store the harvested seafood), Bitchang (a metal tool used to pick up abalones), and Kakuri (a tool that is used to pick up sea products between the cracks in the rocks).

In a speech during the opening ceremony, the Ambassador of Korea to Qatar H E Yun Hyunsoo correlated Jeju’s Haenyeo culture to Qatar’s legacy in pearl diving.