Brightly painted murals on neat rows of houses. Narrow, hilly lanes with their sidewalk dotted with pansies, petunias and gerberas in huge ceramic pots. It’s hard to believe that Gamcheon-dong’s roots are embedded in the horrors of war and poverty.
My visit to the Gamcheon Cultural Village in Busan can be attributed to that crazy part of me, which is addicted to Korean dramas. This is a place where many K-dramas have been filmed. Let’s just say that the obsession took a backseat as soon as I arrived here, because Gamcheon-dong is fabulous on its own. Also known as ‘Santorini on the South Sea’ and ‘Korea’s Machu Picchu’, the former shanty town got a new lease of life in 2009 through the murals that were painted on every house here. Gamcheon-dong sits on a hill that overlooks the sea.
The history of the village is as riveting as the art that covers every inch of it. During the Korean War (1950-53), when most of South Korea fell into the hands of the North, the Pusan Perimeter was the only stretch that evaded capture. Busan became the provisional capital of South Korea and a staggering number of impoverished refugees moved there. Many of them settled down in the suburbs, including Gamcheon-dong, which is located on the Bandal hill, between Mt Cheonmasan and Mt Ami.
Around a couple of hundred wooden houses sprung up in the area. The structures were basic, and stone slabs were placed on the roofs to prevent them from being blown away by the strong winds from the sea.
Gamcheon-dong’s war-scarred residents sought solace in taegeukdo, a religion founded in 1918 by Cho Cholje. The message of millenarianism struck a chord among the residents of this poorest of Busan’s suburbs.
The condition of the rest of the country, mauled by communist North Korea during the three-year war, wasn’t very different either. However, the Miracle on the Han River (coined after the ‘Miracle on the Rhine’ phrase used to describe the ‘economic rebirth of West Germany after World War II’) changed South Korea’s position in the world arena. In a span of 30 years after the War, the country transformed into a ‘developed’ nation, after ranking behind Ghana and Congo in the ’60s.
Gamcheon-dong, however, had to wait longer for some TLC from the government. In 2009, the ministry of culture, sports and tourism turned its attention to the village with the launch of its ‘Dreaming of Machu Picchu in Busan’ project. The box-shaped houses in the village were already painted in pastel shades, but further beautification was done under the project. Apart from painting murals, artists created colourful sidewalks on the serpentine alleys. Gradually, the residents joined hands with the artists. The fruits of the happy collaboration is there for everyone to see and admire.
The wooden houses are a thing of the past. It’s concrete all around, but the multi-coloured structures give Gamcheon-dong a Legoland-like appearance. Narrow flights of stairs — some of which can be challenging for the not-so-fit tourist — often lead to pretty cafés and restaurants, and souvenir shops that look as attractive as the paper ballerinas and fans on their shelves.
The murals often mirror the streets of Gamcheon-dong. One shoebox-shaped house — something that may remind you of Salvador Dali’s ‘The Persistence of Memory’ — is a favourite with many tourists. There is a sculpture of the Little Prince and his fennec fox seated on a railing and gazing at the sea. No tourist can resist this photo-op. Red plastic hearts with locks dance in the air on a terrace while the House of Peace, one of the mini-galleries or exhibition spaces here, has pieces of art that depict hope in the face of odds.
Adorning a stark concrete wall are words from ‘Nostalgia’, a poem by the early 20th-century poet and translator of English poetry Jeong Ji-yong. The words, in Korean characters, are arranged in the shape of a large fish in stainless steel. Colourful birds with human heads on a rooftop (‘People and Birds’) depict the desire to break free and take flight.
A few paces from here is the Little Museum, which stands against the backdrop of a painted blue sky with cottony clouds. Inside is a collection of 70-odd household items from the early days of Gamcheon-dong. Photographs of the post-War rudimentary wooden shacks speak volumes about the humble beginnings of the village. The old bathhouse, with a scattering of human sculptures, is now a community centre.
Schools of fish — in more colours than you can count — keep you company as you negotiate the maze of alleys.
These are not just works by individual artists (‘Fish Swimming Through the Alley’, for example, is a collection of fish paintings on small planks arranged to look like a big fish slicing through waters). The fish are also the arrowheads you need to follow to avoid losing your way — and self — in the labyrinth of the little streets.
Travel Log
Getting there
There are daily flights to Busan from New Delhi via Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul.
To get to Gamcheon-dong: Take the subway Line 1 (orange line) and get down at Toseong Station. Take Exit 6 and walk to the Busan National University Hospital Cancer Centre bus stop. From there take the Village shuttle minibus
Take a taxi from Toseong station if you are more than three people; it will be cheaper.
Tip
Purchase a T-money card for all your travel needs in South Korea. You can swipe it in buses, subway, taxis, and also use it at convenience stores. The other option is to purchase a day subway pass that costs 5,000 won (₹300 approx) for unlimited rides in the subway for a day.
(Neha Dhawan is a Bengaluru-based writer. The article first appeared in BLInk.)