A town full of art : Heyri Art Valley
Heyri Art Valley
Imagine a little town full of art, architecture and culture. Everything else is just out of the picture. No convenience stores, traffic, pollution… no stress!
This little piece of land located in Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, is a project running since 1997 being in constant process of expansion, with many new artists joining the space. The project is composed with almost 400 members, including writers, artists, architects, musicians and filmmakers. They build their own space, houses, work rooms, museums, galleries.
This is a place where you can get inspired with all the creativity shared from so many different perspectives. Most galleries are connected to a coffeshop or a store, where you can get a cup of coffee or tea and in some cases even have a nice meal. It is also a place that held different festivals and performances, cultural educations projects and also somewhere you can join a creative discussion. It is also a residential area for artists, where they are able to create activities and concentrate on their work in a nice space.
Over 40 museums, galleries, concert halls and bookstores, workshops, cafes, restaurants and food courts make the town of Heyri a memorable place to visit.
The construction of the whole little town requires all buildings to be no more than three stories tall, being each building constructed by a different architect with its own charm.
Some art galleries and museums I have checked out are:
- The Book Museum – It had a nice exhibition on antique book paitings, along the a nice cafe that looks like a library. Ticket to exhibitions are 6.000 won.
- The White Block Gallery – Nice modern drawings and paintings, also connected to a coffeshop, with high glass windows that makes a quite pleasant to just sit and get inspired. If you get a beverage, you don’t need to pay for a ticket.
- Tin toy Museum – This is a super cool museum if you are into tin toys. They gather a very interesting collection of toys from a couple that have been collecting them for decades. This is also connected to a coffe/pizza place, where you can have a nice meal. If you get pizza, you get 30% discount on your exhibition ticket.
- Jireh Gallery – This is a smaller gallery with a store and small coffe counter, they were having a nice little exhibition (free entrance) about trees, called “The same tree, different thoughts” (translated from korean). It was nice!
Of course there were many other galleries and spaces that are worth visiting, at my visit, some of them were closed, unfortunetly. You should also check out the ceramic museum and galleries, which have beautiful stuff.
There is also a store where you can make your own pottery. It is really nice!
Heyri Art Valley is about 50 minutes away from Seoul, leaving at Hapjeong Station, exit 8, bus 2200 – you get off at Heyri stop, gate 1.
