Artful Seoul: More Sites in the City and Around (Part 2)
In this winter season, many museums and similar sites are closed due to the current coronavirus restrictions. The South Korean government has been pretty organized about how it sets restrictions when COVID numbers start to rise. Consequently, as soon as business re-open, we know we’d better get our visits in before they may be closed again! Fortunately, I was able to visit several art exhibits with friends before the current closures began.
You may have read about my visits to the very cool exhibits at Museum SAN (Space, Art, Nature) and teamLab: LIFE in Part 1 of this post. As promised, here is Part 2 of our artful adventures in and around Seoul.
Hwadam Botanic Garden
Focused on eco-education, this arboretum is located on the grounds of Konjiam Ski Resort, less than an hour’s drive from Seoul. The forest park is operated by the Evergreen Foundation, a public service branch of LG.
On our mid-November visit, we were able to take the ski lift up to the gardens. (Though there is also a path you can walk up next to the slopes.) Resort workers were just beginning to set up snow machines in preparation for the winter ski season.
Numerous trails wind through the hilly park, and you can choose to walk all the way through or to ride a small tram on raised rails for part of the way. As we had only half a day to spend here, we saved time by riding the tram to the top and then walking back down through the gardens. It’s worth going to the top as the views back over the mountains are not to be missed!
Though the leaves were well past their peak, we were just in time to catch the last of the autumn colors. The chrysanthemums also were still blooming, which added some color.
Even without spectacular color, though, this garden was a perfect place to enjoy some late-fall rustic ambience. With 17 themed sections, it offered plenty to see! We didn’t even get to spend time in every section during our half-day visit.
This arboretum is also home to some very interesting trees, both large and small.
We could have stayed longer, but we had set ourselves an ambitious schedule and needed to head to the next park.
Pocheon Art Valley
Pocheon Art Valley is an arts and culture complex created in a former rock quarry northeast of Seoul. There’s less to see here than at Hwadam Botanic Garden, unless you really, really like to spend time contemplating large art works. A half-day visit should be plenty to see the whole park.
Though the complex is easily walkable, there is also a raised tram that will take you to the top of the park. This one has the added feature of sporting a cute, happy face.
The main draw here is to walk the grounds, looking at the large sculptures. A few are what you might expect of a sculpture park.
Most, however, are much more whimsical and fun than you might anticipate.
At the top of the park, you can visit Cheonjoho Lake. Its dramatic rocky cliffs have been used as a backdrop in filming several Korean dramas, most recently Melting Me Softly (2019), My First Love (2019), Hwayugi (2017-18), and Legend of the Blue Sea (2016-17).
Ttukseom Museum of Art (뚝섬미술관)
Back in Seoul, we visited this small museum in Seongsu. This exhibit offered the opportunity to “travel” for an hour in recognition that most people around the world are not doing much traveling these days.
It was really clever, complete with a passport and a brief trip through an “airplane.”
There were places throughout the exhibit to stamp the passport with pictures from various world destinations, such as Paris, Sydney, and London.
Mostly, there were lots of photo ops for pretending to be somewhere else! A fun, relaxing exhibit for coping with pandemic times.
Whether we can be inside or need to stay outside for safety, there is always something new to experience. Thank goodness for artists whose work can transport us outside of ourselves, even for a few moments.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Thomas Merton
