By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Lalien Guillen Park
Photos = Lalien Guillen Park
Adrian, a friend of mine who loves Korea, told me about Sangsang-gil. It's a street where his name is engraved. After more than a year of hearing about Sangsang-gil from him, I finally ventured there alone. I took the earliest bus from Gumi headed to Masan at 9 a.m.
I only planned to visit Sangsang-gil, but I was up for more treats. Little did I know that Sangsang-gil is just a small portion of the Changdong Art Village. An "art village"? That's right. It's an entire village full of art creations, such as paintings, sculptures and photos.
Two years ago, the Changdong Art Village hosted an event called the "Write Your Name in Korean" for non-Korean tourists who wished to visit Korea. The first 23,000 participants would get their names engraved on the walkway. Wow! That's a lot of people!
Engraved on the street are names of some Korean and non-Korean celebrities, like members of the pop group 4Minute, the Australian singer Dami Im and Japanese actress Yuko Fueki.
I continued to walk along Sangsang-gil to search for my friend’s name. Finally, I found it in the 271th row!
There it is! My friend was really happy and proud that he was immortalized in Korea by having his name engraved there. Way to go, Adrian!
After accomplishing my mission, I wander around the entire village to appreciate the different kinds of art creations on display there.
This iron sculpture is really interesting, but I couldn’t figure out what inspired it. Could it be Darth Vader from the "Star Wars" movies?
There is a lot of art on the walls. I can’t help but admire all the artists who created them all. They show such pure talent and creativity!
My favorite so far is a wall painted with a Tree of Hope. The painting of a tree is full of uplifting quotes written in calligraphy on small wooden plaques.
Even the roads have some art on them.
Not only that, but the stores, restaurants and other venues in the village all have a touch of art to them.
I also dropped by the Changdong Art Village Center that has on display different works of art and even some traditional Korean musical instruments.
There are also Slow Post Boxes, which are common across Korea. I love sending postcards through the mail! All of the Slow Post Boxes I've seen deliver mail after one year. This was the first time I saw a Slow Post Box that deliver mails after only one month! I was really excited to try it!
Sadly, after three hours of strolling around this wonderful art village, it was time to go home. It was a wonderful three hours of roaming here and there. It was like being in an interesting art museum, except that it wasn’t enclosed. It was an entire village! I would definitely love to go back here again, someday.
wisdom117@korea.kr
