KOREA

November 2022
Special ¥°

The Beauty of Coexistence

Youngwol Y Park Harmonizes Art and Nature in a Single Frame

WRITTEN BY
Seong Hye-kyeong

Photographed by
Studio Kenn

The sky and mountains effect a sublime harmony in the hamlet of Juchon-myeon, Yeongwol-gun County, Gangwon-do Province. Youngwol Y Park celebrates this harmony, with the repurposed museum and growing tourist attraction creating for visitors an almost transcendent experience bringing together art and nature.

The first thing visitors see as they enter Youngwol Y Park is a forest of red bamboo sculptures. Walking along the path of the red bamboo forest allows visitors the opportunity to encounter an entirely new world.

One with Nature

Youngwol Y Park is a vast artistic cultural complex with 11 different areas to explore. The complex is a gigantic maze, but it flows in such a well-organized manner that there is no need to worry about getting lost.

Each part of the complex is filled with unexpected pleasures. Visitors can see paintings and installation art throughout the artistic cultural complex. There is also a space filled with flowers and one where a marionette trio dances to music.

The fun continues outside the exhibition hall. The Red Pavilion made from red steel pipes connects two separate exhibition halls. The picturesque azure sky and blue mountains of Yeongwol-gun unfurl through the gaps between the red pipes. The Spider Web installed in the Red Pavilion is itself a work of art. It is also a famous place where visitors can enjoy the open sky while lying on netting that gently sways in the wind.

At the end of the exhibition, you will return to the ticket office and cafe, which was the starting point. The cafe is also an exhibition and experience space that combines antique furniture collected from different countries, installation art using wood scraps, and coffee.

A panoramic view of Youngwol Y Park

Preserving the Complex¡¯s Identity

Youngwol Y Park¡¯s name embraces the history and identity of the county. The ¡°yeong¡± in Yeongwol-gun sounds like the English word ¡°Young.¡± The ¡°wol¡± means ¡°moon,¡± so the park¡¯s name means ¡°Young Moon.¡±

The last part of the park the Sulsaem Museum, contains the history of the region, too, particular that of Jucheon-myeon.

The name ¡°Jucheon-myeon¡± comes from the legend of the mysterious liquor spring called Jucheonseok. The spring is said to have given yangban (members of the traditional ruling class during the Joseon dynasty) cheongju (refined rice wine) to clear their heads and takju (unrefined rice wine) to the common people.

As it is a place closely related to alcohol, Yeongwol planned on creating a traditional alcohol-themed complex that would utilize local characteristics, starting with the opening of the Sulsaem Museum in 2016.

However, construction of the theme complex was suspended, leaving only the Sulsaem Museum behind. The museum was remodeled into an artistic cultural complex by Yeongwol-gun, Gangneung¡¯s Haslla Art World and sculptor Choi Ok-young. That was the start of Youngwol Y Park.

A Visitor experiences the Spider Web.

Lessons Learned From Space

Those who recognize Youngwol Y Park as a place of regeneration are able to discover the true nature of the artwork installed throughout the complex. Just as Youngwol Y Park is a space that was created by repurposing an abandoned museum, most of the artwork exhibited at Youngwol Y Park is also made from reused, recycled or neglected materials. Things like wood fragments left behind by carpenters, wood abandoned by shipping companies, and old tires were reborn as beautiful works of art through the hands of artists.

Youngwol Y Park is not just a photogenic complex, it is a place where people can learn the beauty of coexistence. Here, the past and present, the abandoned and reborn, and the natural and man-made come together to create harmony.

(Left Top) The Red Pavilion, human-shaped sculptures, and Jupiter harmonize in an exciting way.
(Right Top) A room decorated with ornaments made of yarn
(Left Bottom) A mother and daughter take a commemorative photo at Sulsaem Museum.
(Right Bottom) Collectibles on display at the Beer Museum

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