We also visited Gamcheon Village which used to be a slum but then it was revamped to an art village.The first-time visitor quickly notices the pretty pastel houses and curious sculptures placed at intervals throughout the town -- but the quaint facades and works of modern art signal merely the tip of the fascinating story behind a little known hillside labyrinth in Busan known as Gamcheon village.
Unlike other area villages that sprang up in ad hoc fashion, Gamcheon's multi-tiered communal layout was meticulously planned."By building the houses in tiers so that no house blocks any house behind it, the architectural layout of the village adheres to the Taegeukdo teaching of allowing others to prosper," says Kim Kye-young, a local representative of the Taegeukdo religion.
Gamcheon's art-themed makeover began in 2009, when it hosted a public art project and invited art students and artists to "decorate" the village.While the villagers had for decades painted their own homes in pastel hues, artists added dozens of colorful touches throughout town, attaching nicknames such as "Korea's Machu Picchu" (bizarre choice) and "Korea's Santorini" (closer).
While the view is best from a high vantage point called "Sky Garden," where the village information center is located (only Korean brochures and guides are available), the real delight lies in getting lost in the village's maze of alleyways.Each alley leads to a different surprise, from bird sculptures on roofs to Murakami-like playful installations in abandoned houses.
The quirkiest surprise is "The Little Prince," from the French novel of the same name, sitting atop a fence, staring forlornly out at the Busan Harbor alongside his fox.
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