Game worlds recast through traditional crafts

Video game worlds take on new forms in silk, thread and wood in Nexon’s latest cultural collaboration. Familiar characters and landscapes from the popular Korean titles MapleStory and Dungeon & Fighter have been reimagined through traditional crafts at the hands of students from the Korea National University of Heritage. Seven works are now on permanent display at the headquarters of Nexon Korea and its subsidiary studio, Neople. At Nexon Korea’s headquarters, six pieces draw on the imaginative universe of MapleStory: “Panoramic View of the Land of Peach Blossoms,” “Embroidered Five-Colored Pouch,” “Awaken from the Oldest Darkness, a Thousand Years of Sleep,” “Oasis of Light,” “Under the Maple Tree” and “Monster Norigae.” At Neople’s office, a single work inspired by Dungeon & Fighter — “Hexagonal Magic Map” — is on view. The project grew out of the Nexon Foundation’s “Borderless” arts support initiative. Last November, the foundation and the university joined forces on the exhibition “BORDERLESS: Opening the Portal to the World of Tradition,