[Insta Walk] Talyeongyeok Ujeongguk - Wings of Art Sprouting from an Old Post Office

50-Year-Old Old Changjeon-dong Post Office Building
Renovated in 2015 by CEO Kim Sun-hyung
Ideal Space for Borderless Art
Practical Art Exhibitions Closely Connected to Life
Exhibition Highlighting Artists' Daily Lives
Exhibition Hall Aiming for Communication and Interaction

Solo exhibition "Gathering of Dreamers" by artist Bongsoo Park, showcasing human brainwaves / Photo by Joohyung Lim skepped@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] One of the biggest interests in contemporary art is the reutilization of idle spaces. The UK’s Tate Modern, which transformed an abandoned power plant into a hub for artists, and France’s Orsay Museum, which repurposed a closed subway station, are representative examples. These cases eloquently demonstrate that demolishing old buildings whose usefulness has expired is not always the best solution. The work of assigning new roles and meanings to the old is both a continuation of tradition and a noble task of recreating space.

Nowadays, art spaces reutilizing idle spaces can be easily found not only in Western countries such as the US and Europe but also domestically. Among them, “Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk” (Tal-yeongyeok Post Office), which Asia Economy visited, fully expresses its unique personality and attracts numerous artists and visitors. What is the charm that Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk holds?

Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk is located in the middle of a residential area near Gwangheungchang Station on Seoul Subway Line 6 in Mapo-gu, Seoul. About 50 years ago, in the early 1970s, before the high-rise apartments and modern buildings surrounding Seoul had even revealed their frameworks, this building was known as Changjeon-dong Post Office. Even now, traces of its post office days remain intact at Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk. These include a large safe inside the building and an incinerator used for burning waste.

Seoul City Art Exhibition Space Tal-Yeong-Yeok Ujeongguk Main Entrance / Photo by Juhyung Lim skepped@

In 2015, after the consolidation of Seoul post offices left the Changjeon-dong Post Office empty and without its original mission, it was renovated under the direction of CEO Kim Sunhyung. Kim, who had searched for various abandoned buildings to create a complex cultural and artistic space, said he chose the post office because of “the role this space had played.”

As an artist engaged in experimental art and “multi-disciplinary art” without being bound by forms such as painting, installation, or sculpture, he explained, “While working, I felt that the boundaries dividing different art fields have become very blurred.” He added, “I thought that a heterogeneous space, rather than a gallery or museum, could be a place to show that feeling.” The abandoned post office, which had a role completely unrelated to art, was ideal as a space to realize “art without boundaries.”

The name Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk was chosen to signify breaking away from the realm of formal art. CEO Kim said, “I believe practice is important in art,” and elaborated, “We aim for practical art with a firm thematic consciousness that influences the world we live in today.” This is why they showcase various artworks closely connected to people’s “lives.”

For example, there was a recent solo exhibition by artist Park Bongsoo titled “Gathering of Dreamers.” This work, themed on the dreams of ordinary people, brought the abstract and ambiguous concept of dreams into a real space. It visualized the dreamer’s brainwaves and projected them into the air with a projector, and also transformed detailed messages describing dream content into digital information to make them “immortal.”

One of the exhibitions in artist Park's solo exhibition 'Gathering of Dreamers.' The content of dreams is coded into computer language and projected. / Photo by Juhyung Lim skepped@

There was also a work that satirizes the increasingly fierce competition in neoliberal society. The animation video “Lizardians” by artist Lee Youngju shows how human bodies are commodified in a future era where genetic modification technology is widespread, delivering a stern warning about the present age.

A special event that CEO Kim holds particularly dear is the “Post Side” exhibition series. It is a special event that shows what kind of lives artists lead outside their work. Famous artists are invited to specifically highlight their hobbies, leisure activities, and occupations.

CEO Kim explained the planning purpose: “Artists communicate with audiences through their artworks, but since they are human, they spend more time not doing art activities. The daily lives and trivial matters of artists greatly influence their artistic world. I wanted to show this world behind the artworks to the audience as well.”

Incinerator from the Post Office Era / Photo by Im Ju-hyeong skepped@

The exhibition themes emphasizing life and the projects spotlighting artists’ daily lives all align with the meaning of art pursued by Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk. For Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk, art is “something that can speak to others.”

The act of “speaking” signifies the beginning of communication. When someone speaks to a person, that person becomes curious, contemplates, finds answers, and asks new questions. Art is a process where artists and audiences communicate through artworks and create new meanings. The Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk that CEO Kim dreams of is a gallery filled with works full of such communication.

Every space has a given role, and even if that space is old or its use has expired, it holds a vanished role remembered by someone. The former name of Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk, Changjeon-dong Post Office, was a space that handled the process of sending and receiving letters, mediating and connecting people’s precious and meaningful daily lives. It served as a “bridge” that helped communication between people. Like the post office that connected people half a century ago, Tal-yeongyeok Ujeongguk is now becoming a foothold that connects people and artworks.