[Daegu Travel] Kusama Yayoi's, A Dream I Dreamed Exhibition at Daegu Art Museum

Hello Empathy Guest House fans! Today we are excited to introduce to you Daegu Art Museum’s exhibition: Kusama Yayoi, A Dream I Dreamed.

The Daegu Art Museum, located in the Suseong area of Daegu, is a municipal art museum that was inaugurated in May 2011 supported by the Daegu Municipal Government. The museum’s state of the art facilities support and exhibit social and artistic facilities of the times and leads trends in the global art scene through domestic and overseas exchanges.

July to October of this year, the Daegu Art Museum has the honor of being the first museum in Asia to exhibit the works of Kusama Yayoi, a world reknown artist who started her global career in 1957. Yayoi has worked in a variety of media, including painting, collage, sculpture, performance art and environmental installations, most of which exhibit her thematic interest in psychedelic colors, repetition and pattern. She is known to have influenced contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Kusama Yayoi is now acknowledged as one of the most important living artists to come out Japan, and an important voice of the avant-garde.
 

Kusama Yayoi’s exhibition, A Dream I Dreamed, is currently travelling through various cities across Asia such as Seoul, Taiwan, Shanghai and more. Daegu Museum was the first stop for the exhibition to open its doors and it was quite a popular site to visit for those traveling in and out of Daegu!  

Why wasn’t Seoul chosen to be the city of the exhibition’s opening you ask? We’re just as baffled, but it was most exciting to have this world class exhibition in the Gyeongsang region!

Pictured above is the entrance to the Daegu Art Museum during the exhibition. We can see an army of dots decorated on the entrance doors before walking in. This is only a very small cross-section of what Kusama Yayoi has in store for us inside.

P.S. The pouring rain this day made the trip quite difficult. We recommend that everyone come visit the museum on a non-rainy day!

As soon as we walk into the museum we were greeted by big red polka dotted structures, and we quickly began learn that the very core of Kusama’s work revolves around dots, dots, and more dots!

This piece pictured above left quite an impression. Although we just mentioned that all of Kusama’s works include dots, this one is an exception – Ladder to Heaven. This sculpture made of mirror, metal, lamp and fiber cable is made into a makeshift ladder that looks like it reaches up into the sky with no end. Those who do not believe in a heaven might just be convinced there is after taking a look at this piece.

Pictured above you can see the image of an eccentric elderly lady with bright red hair. That lady is the very Kusama Yayoi!

Kusama Yayoi was born in 1929, Matsumoto, Japan, and is currently 84 years old in Korean age. Despite her age, she is still very active in various activities.

The piece in the second photograph that looks similar to what you would see in a kaleidoscope is a piece made of mirrors, water drops, and repeating patterns that she started to work on in 1973.

We’re pretty sure you can see how much Kusama loves dots without us having to explain.

You will be able to feel it if you go see the exhibition in person.

Although Yayoi is in her eighties, her artistic abilities have not stagnated. She still vigorously strives to create new work. She pursues to extend her artistic scope: seeking the boundary between reality and fiction, life and death, the finite and infinite. Her wish is that whoever you are, wherever you come from, whichever religion you turn to, her work will allow us to transcend these cultural and regional boundaries.

We hope you enjoyed the exhibit as much as we did! And even if you do not get the chance to go before the exhibition ended, you might be able to catch the exhibition in Seoul or its other future destinations. Even though Yayoi’s exhibition has left the Daegu Art Museum, there are always new and exciting exhibitions to see here!

Daegu Art Museum Website: http://www.daeguartmuseum.org/eng/main/

[Daegu Travel] Palgong Mountain 팔공산

Hello Everyone! In preparation for the beautiful fall season we are introducing the best place in Daegu to experience the colors of autumn: riding the cable cars at Palgong Mountain!

Palgong Mountain (or Palgongsan) is the Daegu area’s most well mountain that sits on the Northern border of the city and south of North Gyeongsan province. The mountain is the site of a number of cultural and natural heritage sites including Buddhist shrines including Donghwasa and Gunwi Triad Budda Grotto, which is also a National Treasure. It is a popular place for Daegu citizens to go on the weekend, and one of the best places in Korea to see the changing autumn leaves. Due to the vast size of the mountain, reaching 1193 meters above sea level, there are numerous trails and pathways to reach the top of Palgong mountain.

Today we will be introducing the perfect date course for couples. Say, you want to enjoy the mountain scenery, but dreading the long hike up? Never fear! We will be showing you an easy and feet friendly way up the mountain.   

But before we head up the mountain we will start our adventure by… eating! 

Although people traditionally save eating yummy foods and celebrating the end of the climb at the top of the mountain, we recommend eating at the bottom of the mountain because it is a more economical option. Most of the restaurants you will embark upon on the way to ride the cable cars are traditional Korean restaurants that sell samgyetang (chicken soup with a delicious broth made from ginseng and other healthy herbs), jjim dak (steamed chicken), and pajeon (a pancake style dish made with green onions).

Just looking at the food will make your mouth water.

As pictured above, spicy jjimdak and pajeon with a side of makgeolli (rice wine) make a heavenly combination.

Now, since we’ve filled up or stomachs shall we make our way to the cable cars?

The rates for riding the cable cars is pictured above. There is a price increase of 1,000KRW after October 1st, but a round trip cost of 9,000KRW sounds reasonable enough!

After buying tickets there will be helpful signs that lead you up to the Sky Garden, where the cable cars are located.

Hold on one second!

Do you see what I see?

If you keep your ticket and come back within six months you are eligible for a 20% discount, now that’s a good deal!

Now shall finally we make our way to the top?

Although a wonderful sight to see from the cable car, it is very high up and can be a bit dizzying for those with a fear of heights!

At last the cable car reaches its destination and here we are at the top of the mountain! These scary looking wooden figures called, jangseung, greet all of the visitors to the top. Jangseung are traditional Korean totem poles that usually stand at the entrance of villages. 

Although we wanted to take a look at the breath taking sight of a sprawling city of Daegu at the top of the mountain, we chose a cloudy and foggy day to visit so we were not able to see the skyline. Despite this setback, however, there were also many other things to explore at the top.

One of Palgongsan’s attractions at the top of the mountain is “Love Road.” The entrance of Love Road, is pictured above, pretty isn’t it? This road is the perfect place for couples to show their commitment to each other and make lovey-dovey promises for a lasting relationship through various contemporary Korean traditions.

One of those traditions is buying a lock, writing your and your significant other’s name and/or message on the lock and then securing it onto designated areas as pictured above and throwing the key down the mountain to signify an unbreakable and ever lasting relationship.
Locks are available for purchasing at a shop called Mountain Blue nearby!

Picture time! A chance to pose for a pretty picture here.

Instead of throwing the key down the mountain however, Palgongsan has a different tradition. See that scary looking tiger in the picture above? To be more specific, it is a key eating tiger. After locking your lock, throwing the key in the tiger’s mouth will ensure a lasting relationship.

After looking through the locks, we can even see that foreigner couples have come by to express their love for one another.

There are of course other interesting sights to see as you make your way around the top of Palgong Mountain pictured below.

And last but not least, we come to Mountain Blue, a structure that makes you wonder how it was built on the top of the mountain. Inside Mountain Blue is a restaurant and cafe for mountain climbers and cable car riders to recharge their energy before heading back down the mountain.

Picture above is the food menu and prices for what you can eat at Mountain Blue.

As we mentioned before, the food here is a little pricey. Be immediately see a price jump as pajeon at the bottom of the mountain was 7000KRW but here it is 9000KRW.

I guess guess we have to assume that running a restaurant at the top of the mountain can be expensive. It is a loved tradition of Koreans to have pajeon and makkeolli after a good climb, so it should be worth the money, right?

The café also sells a variety of coffee. How does a relaxing cup of coffee after reaching the top of the mountain sound to you?

Although there are many other ways to enjoy visiting Palgong Mountain, we hope that you will find this route useful for your trip to Daegu! Safe travels! 

[Daegu Travel] - Gyodong Market 교동시장

Greetings to our Empathy Guest House visitors! Of the places you can check out in Daegu, today we will be introducing one of Daegu's markets. There are several major markets you can visit in Daegu, and Gyodong Market used to be Daegu's biggest and most famous. Although Gyodong Market has seen less customers these days compared to Seomun Market, this market has been known for its electronics, jewelry and black market. The black market has an expansive selection of imported goods including US products such as chocolates, candies, deodorant, weightlifting supplements, setting it apart from other markets in the area.  

Location wise, Gyodong Market takes up quite an expansive area of downtown Daegu lying to the east of Jungangno Station and located more specifically behind Daegu Station.

This market at first glance may seem a bit old fashioned and less busy compared to the young and hip Dongseongro downtown area just a block down the street, but today we are going to show that there is just as much, if not more interesting things to see here!

Upon arriving, we immediately see that the street before turning into the alleyway to enter the market is lined with thrift shops and jewelry stores.

Although not pictured, there are a lot more jewelry shops other than those on this street, also commonly known as the Jewelry Alley of Daegu. We definitely recommend everyone to come take a look at the jewelry they sell here.

The thrift shops are also quite a treat. You will be able find very cheap yet good quality clothes. This part of Gyodong Market is heaven for fans of second hand clothing and bargain deals.

Markets and shopping areas in Korea often have well known alleyways that sell a common product, service, or food, but Gyodong Market as mentioned before consists of a very interesting black market, the Yankee Market.

The name, Yankee Market, originates from all of the imported goods stores that supply products that originate from the United States (but there are also many products from other countries as well!).

Foreign goods such as these tasty snacks pictured in these photos above are put on display to entice the passerby.

Although we were not able to take pictures of what the stores looked like inside, there were many many more imported products that were sold other than these snacks.

Full of items and products that one would not be able to find in Korean convenience stores elsewhere, foreigners would probably find this part of town most helpful for finding products they use back at home.

Once at Yankee Market, you cannot leave out the interesting clothing shops! One can find heaps of US army clothing and apparel, even uniforms from way back when.

Aside from the clothing and accessory shops that the market is full of, we cannot leave out the traditional Korean eats when it comes to Gyodong Market!

Pictured below is the market’s Muk-ja (Eatery) Alleyway.

The tantalizing smell of food reaches our noses before entering the alleyway itself. Seasoned fish cake, mung-bean pancakes (bindaetteok), squid jjijim (Korean style pancake made with squid), are only a few of the mouth watering delectables that are sold here. You can also find the Daegu-famous flat dumplings here as well.

Note: Jjijim is the Gyeongsang dialect for jeon, Korean style pancake!

We can see seasoned fish cake, tteokbokki, and squid jjijim in the picture above. The ladies made it difficult for us to resist, and giving into the temptation we ordered some bindaetteok and flat dumplings on the spot. After seeing the vast number of good places to eat we will be planning to come back and make a post that focuses on the market’s eateries!

The jewelry shops, electronics alleyway, and other sights to see at the market are not in the pictures posted above, but they are all something worth coming to see while visiting Daegu! Be sure to include the Kyodong Market in your travel plans when visiting the Dongseongro area.

This concludes our post on Kyodong Market! How was the taste of bindaedduk on a rainy day?