Gwacheon: National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul Land, Seoul Grand Park

The National Museum of Contemporary Art (NMOCA) in Korea recently won one of the world's biggest design competitions with its "Dansaekhwa: Korean Monochrome Painting" exhibition. It has become the country's first national art museum to receive a red dot design award.

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The exhibition received an award in the communication design category and was up against a tough pool of 6,823 design works from 43 countries. The exhibition, which ended this past May, featured about 150 paintings by 31 artists. 

Photo Credit: LondonKoreanLinks

NMOCA is currently showing a diverse collection encompassing a children's gallery, photography, media art and contemporary Korean art.

Outside of the museum walls lies a 1,000,000 square meter green lawn open air sculpture park which is surrounded by the picturesque Cheonggye Mountain and Gwanak Mountain. The sculpture park frequently holds concerts, dance performances and poetry readings, combining nature with art. There are approximately 60 famous sculptures by both domestic (like Lee U Fan, Lee Seung Taek and Kwak Duk Jun) and international artists (like Magdalna Abakanowics, Tal Streeter and Mauro Staccioli).

 Not far from the museum, which is located in Gwacheon, is Seoul Land.

Seoul Land was Korea's first theme park. Thrill seekers come to ride the 40 roller coasters and enjoy the many seasonal festivals. It is divided into five themes: World Plaza, Samchulli Land, Tomorrow Land, Fantasy Land and Adventure Land. Each has rides, performances, exhibitions and events that correspond to the theme.

Photo Credit: Korea Tourism Organization

Next door is Seoul Grand Park, which consists of a large zoo, botanical gardens and kilometers of forest trails. There's even a sky lift at the entrance of the zoo that runs 1.7km.

About the author by Donna Choi

Born and raised in the States, I came to Seoul in 2009 and have loved living and working in such a high-tech and connected city ever since. I enjoy collecting unique, cute gadgets/items (I have a bread-scented smartphone case!) and traveling around Korea. My personal mission while living in Korea: Try every type of Korean food known to exist.

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