Seoul, Nat'l Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Trying to fit some high culture into my winter vacation/Seollal holiday, I dropped by NMMCA, and spent over two hours there: it is quite large with a about eight galleries, and had several things of interest. Best photo of the day:


One of the first parts of the first gallery is an exhibit of an art group's working area, including just a bunch of stuff in storage:


The next exhibit was a two room mixed media presentation (and the green hallway between them which makes odd whispering sounds) was about the nature of identity in a world of passports and DNA; it was quite interesting, but like much of art today relies heavily on video.


Speaking of video, this artist recording himself building a 1 pyeong (about 3 sq. meter) hut, or trying to, as it kept getting blown over, swept out to sea, etc.


This artist had images representing her fears on the glass cylinders (which were spinning) and projecting their shadows outward; the next one was about the impossibility of capturing the fluid motion of ocean waves in concrete.


In the center of this installation "Barefoot", a mechanical thing which makes squeaking noises representing Siddhartha, already in the state of nirvana, extending his feet toward his beloved disciple Gasupjonja. This is surrounded by "Gathering", a series of animals mourning the death of Siddhartha (incl. details).


A work called Kyon-Woo-JickNyo, which has a model earth suspended between North and South Korea. As sunshine energizes the solar panel, the model moves between the two, inspired by the "Sunshine Policy" of former president Kim Dae-Jung.


A toy tiger in some leaves and model buildings made of giveaway cards.


And finally:

11 Hours in the Big City

I picked up an old friend, Jeremy B. who's now a US Army Captain on a short visit to Seoul as aide-de-camp to a two-star, at noon at Noksapyong. The plan was to return him there between 10 and 11 in the evening, see what we could, and make sure to attend a Korean baseball game. We managed, and with about five minutes to spare.

We started at Tapgol Park, which is renown as home of the 1919 Independence (or Sam-il) Movement, where its leaders planned to read their declaration to the public. Though it actually took place at nearby restaurant, Tapgol Park is a seminal site in modern Korean history. Using my Nikon, I got photos of all the bas-reliefs that tell the story, and include a few below.


Tapgol Park is also home to National Treasure #2, the ten-tiered pagoda from the Wongaksa Temple site. A kind Korean gent instructed Jeremy on exactly how to pose.


Insadong is a must-see, I think, for a first-timer, because of the concentration of traditional art objects, shopping opportunity, street food, and restaurants. We first encountered a traditional marching band, and I got my picture took:


There were knick-knacks to peruse, then time for a late lunch. Samgyupsal, natch. With a bottle of soju. We ate and drank every bit of it.


We made a quick tour through Gwanghwamun Plaza, including the highlights of the underground museums, before traipsing across to Gyeongbokgung. We hit the geunjeongjeon or main throne room, with its irworobongdo screens, meaning, The Sun, the Moon, and the Five Mountains. Then we stopped by the Gyeonghoeru, the Royal Dining Hall, or Party Central, surrounded by a lake.


Next we stopped by the Cheonggyecheon, but nothing seemed to be going on there, so we refreshed ourselves with a quick draft beer and made for Jamsil Sports Complex to catch the Nexen vs. LG game (my Heroes lost 5 - 4, but it was a good game). We dined on dried squid, sundae (blood sausage) and KFC--Jeremy impressed all day with his willingness to give anything a try!--before returning to Noksapyong.

And since we had a few minutes, we strolled down to HBC, sat at Bonny's and a tried a couple of fine foreign lagers before calling it a night. It was great to see an old friend, and also great to see a bit of Seoul through fresh eyes.

Gwanghwamun Plaza

Gwanghwamun 광화문, which translates to something like bright picture gate, is the largest gate to the old city area, directly in front of Gyeongbokgung, the main palace of the Joseon dynasty.

On August 1, the city unveiled the new Gwanghwamun Plaza, which runs in the center of Sejong Street from the gate to the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin, the great warrior who rebuffed the Japanese invasion of 1592 and invented the turtle ship (Geobukseon 거북선).


You come out of Gwanghwamun station (line 5) at a revamped exit into Haechi Madang (Haechi courtyard)--haechi being an imaginary lion-like beast that is the symbol of Seoul.







There was also an interesting photo display of plazas and squares of Europe.


The plaza itself is well-thought-out and well-executed. When you walk onto the plaza from the madang, Bugaksan looms in the background, a stirring backdrop for the gardens on the north end of the plaza, in front of the gate. Running along both sides is a sort of stream, about an inch deep, 365 m long, the stone bed engraved with important events in Korea's past, called the Waterways of History.

At each end of the garden is a large topiary haechi. Stylized geobukseon serve as planters and bench seating, and provide what little shade the plaza has in the heat of the day.





The flower carpet on the north end of the square "is made of 224,537 flowers. The number matches the number of the days between Oct. 28 1394, when the capital of the Joseon Dynasty was transferred to Seoul from Gaeseong, the capital of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), and today," according to opening day's story in the Herald.


But the star of the show, at least on a sweltering August early afternoon, is the 364 water jets that surround Admiral Yi's statue.







I'm not sure what this guy was all about ...


... but I remembered reading this editorial in Dong-A Ilbo, one of the most right-wing newspapers here, which worried about the new plaza's temptation to protesters, considering its central location and patriotic backdrops:

The plaza should also not degenerate into a place for illegal demonstrations. Government institutions and the U.S. Embassy are nearby, and Gwanghwamun Plaza is closer to the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae than Seoul Plaza. The city has banned political assemblies at the new plaza and will impose stricter regulations on such gatherings than for Seoul Plaza. Yet certain groups have repeatedly staged political demonstrations at Seoul and Cheonggye plazas under the disguise of cultural events, and whether the city can stop them from doing so at Gwanghwamun Plaza is unclear.
If Gwanghwamun Plaza is to truly become a Korean landmark, it should establish itself as a public place for relaxation and culture. If it turns into a venue for illegal protests like the candlelight vigils that paralyzed Seoul between May and August last year, the city is better off without the plaza.

Too late, perhaps, as the following story from The Hankyoreh reports, about an incident on Monday:

South Korean police arrested a number of citizens who participated in a press conference held by civic organizations and opposition political parties in Gwanghwamun Plaza, on August 3. The press conference was the first held in the plaza since its opening on August 1. The police arrested them on the grounds of holding a ‘not-reported assembly.’

From the Korea Times:

The police considered the press conference as an illegal gathering and Park Won-suk, deputy secretary general of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, and nine others were taken into custody.
The city did not fence off the plaza prior to the gathering, but police saw it as unlawful because they held protest signs.
Other people sided with the city administration and requested for a political demonstration-free area. "Citizens need a peaceful place downtown without rallies. If the demonstrators keep occupying the plaza, the law should protect the people's right to a quiet area," said an office worker identified only as Park, 34.

While protests, or even "press conferences", on the square seem to be off-limits, protests with obnoxiously loud loudspeakers blaring from just across the street in an alley beside the Sejong Center seem to be acceptable:


I've written about this before, and I'm sure I will again: Korean people love a good protest. Although today they have direct voting to effect their political will, they still can't resist a candlelight vigil, an opportunity to wave placards, or the drama of a lockout at the National Assembly.

It is a part of their national character, I think, psychological imprinting from the days of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan in the 1970s and '80s when protests led the nation from military dictatorship to democracy. Well, I'll get back to this topic later, I've got to take this call ...