Seoul As Art Gallery

Seoul City launches projects to make Seoul artistic capital of the world

Seoul City has launched its project to make Seoul a huge art gallery this year. The city has already completed the basic plan for its "Municipal Art Gallery Project"and model work on the way to completion of the project in January, city officials said.
The officials said the project is designed to satisfy the desire by Seoul citizens to see their city becomes pleasant and beautiful to live through harmonization of art and empty spaces in the metropolis.
As the first step on the way to achieve the project, the city held a briefing session at the Seoul History Museum to publicly invite model work samples for the first area of the project. The city plans to finish building 41 model samples of the project around town and a total of 9 model projects including three in the area and 6 model samples to expand public art throughout the city will be completed this year.
In particular, the campaign for art has been drawing the public attention as it is designed to realize the cultural desire in the minds of the public and at times,
the visits by artists to neighborhoods to solve their artistic problems to set up a new relation between fine art and society.
The locations in Seoul that have been selected as public art display corners including the Seoul City Hall, Seoul Plaza, the walls of Deoksu Palace, and the areas surrounding the Jeongdong rotary.
The city hall and Seoul Plaza will have street furniture, installation art paving, and others to convey an image that Seoul is an artistic center in the world. The walls of Deoksu Palace will have stone pavement, fences, small squares, column-type exhibition tables, walks expressing history, culture and the love of men and women.
The Jeongdong rotary area including Jeongdong Cheil Church and the Russian consulate and others, where tourists congregate due to its history of the area at the dawn of the century, will have art works with themes of history and education.
The city plans to invite the participation of Seoul citizens in the project by focusing on creating public arts harmonizing fine art and daily life of the public in the metropolitan Seoul. Of the 6 projects, one at the Oksu subway station will have the theme of
"Riding Together with Public Arts-Oksu Station,"and "Street Furniture-Saemunan Road,"by renovating benches, trash cans, and plazas to making the environment more beautiful, city officials said.
The vicinity of Saemunan Road has a great prospect to be renovated as an art belt as it includes the Sejong Center for Performing Art, the Museum of History, the Gyeonghee Palace, and Seongok Art Museum, among others and the Gwanwhamun Interchange is nearby.
"The Collection of Seoul Citizens Dreams"and "Artists Running"are the projects that can only be made together by artists and citizens. "The Collection of Dreams of Seoul Citizens"is the project requiring artists to collect dreams of citizens at Seoul Plaza and make them into an art object, which will be seen publicly in June.
"Artists Running,
"is a tailor-made art works for citizens to be made by artists by visiting citizens to see what kind of art objects they would like to have such as renovated pavilion, and refurbished old walls so that people can satisfy their artistic stimulation near where they live.
"The Creation of Fine Art from Streams"is a project to beautify estuaries of streams. "Playroom and Studyroom Project"is a project in which artists will decorate the interiors of these rooms with the significance of the project being helping the poor.
A session to explain the projects took place at the History Museum on March 9. City officials explained the project, especially the process, method, purposes, research objects, screening systems and other matters to be cautious. They focused on those projects to be completed this yea, along with details of the projects, promotion methods and schedule. They passed out brochures containing the details of what they explained. nw

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