Over 1,000 Community Artworks Created by Local Artists and Residents
International Collaboration Featuring Artists from Germany and Taiwan
Expanded Citizen Participation Showcased under the Theme "Alchemy of Light"
The "Light Sculpture Festival - Nowon Moonlight Walk," which opened on October 13, surpassed 300,000 visitors in just ten days and is being held as a tranquil outdoor public art festival for healing.
"Nowon Moonlight Walk" welcomes citizens at Danghyeoncheon for 24 days until November 5, under the theme of "Alchemy of Light."
Nowon Moonlight Walk, which began in 2020 and is now in its fourth year, attracted 660,000 visitors in 2022, averaging 40,000 people per day, and has grown into one of Seoul’s leading festivals, recognized for both its artistic value and appeal.
This year, the scale and number of artworks have been significantly increased, and the exhibition area has also been expanded.
There has been a substantial increase in community participation works, and international artists from countries such as Germany and Taiwan have been invited to foster diverse experimentation and collaboration.
A total of 18 artists (or teams) from Korea and abroad are presenting 150 pieces across 42 works, including light art, light sculptures, and new media art, along a 2.5 km stretch of Danghyeoncheon (from Sanggye Station/Nowon Mathematics Culture Center to Junggye Station/Deulgukhwa Children’s Park). Including citizen-participation works, over 1,000 pieces are on display.
This year’s theme for "Nowon Moonlight Walk" is "Alchemy of Light."
The festival seeks to deliver messages of hope and joy to children, youth, and citizens who have overcome difficult times, by interpreting the meanings of the basic elements of alchemy in various ways and inviting everyone into a beautiful world of light.
Nowon Moonlight Walk unfolds its story across three distinct sections.
Section 1 (Music Fountain to Yangji Bridge), "Alchemy of Water and Life," focuses on water-one of the basic elements and the source of all life-exploring themes of nature and the environment.
Visitors can enjoy numerous light sculptures related to aquatic life, such as elegant lotus flowers of various sizes, giant fish over six meters long, and rainbows. The "Jeon Youngil Studio" presents a new charm by transforming traditional hanji lanterns into contemporary light sculptures. Works like "Guardian of the River" showcase the unique allure and profound meaning that arise when modern light sculpture is combined with traditional hanji.
The work Artificial Waterfall by Taiwanese artist group UxU Studio is a 7-meter-tall artificial waterfall installation, creating a spectacular scene where light cascades like water.
UxU Studio’s work is the first step in a Korea-Taiwan international exchange project, in collaboration with Taiwan’s UA Studio (Urban Art Studio), beginning this year. UxU Studio, comprised of Taiwanese architects and spatial designers such as Chen Yingchu and Chen Kuanhong, is a public art group that has exhibited works at the Amsterdam Light Festival and Noor Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
The "Bridge of Encounter" by the Moonlight Walk project team "Rainy Days" is a massive rainbow bridge spanning both banks of Danghyeoncheon. The lighting flickers to create the illusion of movement, depicting human figures climbing the bridge from both sides and meeting at the top.
"Gadget Studio" has presented the interactive work "Wizard’s Lighthouse." When visitors shine a UV light from the top of the lighthouse onto Danghyeoncheon, they can discover not only three-meter-long whales and fish like rays in "Sea of Mystery" by "Osaek Spark," but also treasures such as sailing ships, airplanes, and books.
Section 2 (Yangji Bridge to Floor Fountain), "Song of Earth and Nature," tells the story of living in harmony with nature through works featuring flowers, trees, animals, and fire.
"Taegeuk - Ouroboros" by Jeon Youngil Studio is a large-scale light sculpture among the new works, appearing as a rainbow dragon from one side and as a taegeuk symbol from the other.
"Breath" by artist Park Bonggi, installed on a romantically styled wooden bridge, uses bamboo to invite an interaction between nature and the audience. The artist, after exploring Danghyeoncheon and breathing with nature, designed a site-specific piece and invested significant time and effort into its creation and installation. "Breath" is a work imbued with time and dedication, fully conveying this year’s Moonlight Walk message.
"Samsara," created collaboratively by artist Hong Hyunju, Hancheon Middle School, and Gadget Studio, features over 200 pieces crafted by teenagers from recycled materials, depicting people, animals, and plants. These are displayed atop three mountain-shaped installations inspired by Goguryeo murals, spanning 12 meters. The mountains, densely populated with these creations, represent another imaginative world envisioned by the children.
Jang Jiyeon’s "Surreal Mundane: A Walk Under the Moonlight" uses 3D hologram technology to breathe new life into classical marble sculptures, creating new narratives and drawing visitors into a fantastical world.
Section 3 (Floor Fountain to Danghyeon 3 Bridge), "Harmonious Universe," alchemically connects the microscopic world of atoms and the macroscopic dimension of the universe, offering a new perspective on the world around us.
"Alchemist’s Castle" by Gadget Studio is an interactive public art piece that allows visitors to climb the mysterious castle. The accompanying work "Orbital," created with family participation, has become a meaningful landmark for this year’s Moonlight Walk.
On weekends, long lines form for "Alchemist’s Castle," and it remains popular even on weekdays.
"Messenger of Light" by artist Cho Youngcheol is a work that highlights the artist’s eco-friendly vision by utilizing solar cells. The process of four-legged animals, which cannot survive in the city, gradually disappearing into the night under mysterious lights prompts reflection on the environment and nature.
"Mulsokdalsok" by Oh Jongseon and Jo Eul of Dreamframe is one of the largest and tallest works in this year’s exhibition. Mist rising from a 10-meter-high semi-circular frame spanning Danghyeoncheon scatters light to create a mystical halo effect, which is completed as a full circle when reflected in the water.
The half-moon reflected in Danghyeoncheon has been shaped into a full, round moon, symbolizing this year’s theme of "Alchemy of Light," and has become the most popular photo spot.
"Cheonligangsan-do" by Lee Lee-nam, a leading Korean media artist, is a landscape painting reimagined with 3D animation and projected onto a 32-meter-long bridge pier, allowing visitors to experience the illusion of a paradise unfolding before their eyes. Visitors can pause under the bridge for an immersive moment of meditation.
"Lunar Crescendo," a collaborative work by German media artist Timo Helgert and Apollon Immersive Works, features 37 ring-shaped sculptures that gradually expand from the smallest to the largest oval, forming a crescent moon. The combination of Timo Helgert’s visual direction and Apollon Immersive Works’ technical implementation fills the space under the bridge with the waxing and waning of moonlight, both visually and acoustically.
The 10-minute media art performance, combining light and sound, offers visitors a brief respite and a chance to recharge.
This year’s Moonlight Walk has been planned and executed with a strong emphasis on community participation.
Works created by local residents with developmental disabilities, reclusive youth, multicultural families, children, and teenagers can be found throughout the festival.
Representative works include "Nowon’s Forest" by Lee Chaewon, "Flamingo, Flamingo, Flamingo Crossing the Milky Way" by Jung Inseong, and "Expanding Drawing" by Kim Jihye-all professional artists based in Nowon.
Artist Lee Chaewon collaborated with local multicultural families to co-create "Nowon’s Forest." The stainless steel work, shaped like a sturdy Nowon apartment building, features drawings by families who immigrated to Korea, expressing their first impressions of Nowon and Danghyeoncheon.
Artist Kim Jihye completed and installed the "Expanding Drawing" project through both online and in-person meetings with reclusive youth. The artist and participants shared and expressed social and personal issues of isolation and seclusion through drawing. The youth who participated in the project sought ways to expand beyond themselves by visiting the exhibition site. The artist plans to include not only young adults but also reclusive teenagers in Nowon-gu in future projects.
Jung Inseong’s work has become the biggest talking point of the year.
The "Flamingo, Flamingo, Flamingo Crossing the Milky Way" pieces frequently float down Danghyeoncheon day and night, leading to comical scenes where children "rescue" the baby flamingos from the stream and report them to the festival headquarters. The artist’s intention, reflecting the migratory nature of flamingos, suggests that this game of hide-and-seek will continue throughout the 20-day festival.
These community-participation works are being considered for permanent installation even after Moonlight Walk ends, to honor the festival’s significance as a community-created event.
Additionally, a program was launched for the first time in Korea, allowing teenagers to commission public artworks from professional artists through discussion and debate.
In particular, artist Ahn Kyungjin, known for using sculptures and their shadows, created "Fusion" based on themes and concepts determined by children and teenagers from the Bulamgol Happy Power Plant. The work, inspired by the fusion gesture from Dragon Ball, features a shadow behind the merging raccoon and cat figures that adults recognize as the Korean Peninsula, moving them with the depth of the children’s thoughts.
"Eclipse" by artist Juhong was also created based on ideas and discussions among children from Gongneung Happy Power Plant. Juhong, who works with mixed media and mechanical devices, made a lighting device that prints drawings of Danghyeoncheon’s animals and plants by the youth on each layer of a pyramid, enabling movement. The work offers a fascinating glimpse into the children’s serious perspective on the ecological stream, including aquatic plants, frogs, fish, and egrets.
On the day the artist group ARANNIA and Junggye Onmaeul Child Care Center installed "Space Fantasy," the participating children paraded along Danghyeoncheon with an accordionist, celebrating their work and showcasing a new, joyful aspect of public art.
ARANNIA’s other works, "Biduri" and "Bichuri," are popular character sculptures among children. "Biduri" is a large inflatable sculpture representing the wood pigeon, the bird of Nowon-gu, colored with the district’s symbolic hues. One bird has a wind-up key on its back, symbolizing its dedication to working for Nowon-gu. "Bichuri" is the mascot of Nowon Moonlight Walk. Its form changes according to thoughts and actions, and it is said that the alchemist created Bichuri for the festival, infusing the work with light and inspiration.
"Eco Moonlight: Energy Harvesting" by the Convergence Science Class at Sangmyung Middle School is a work that emits light using piezoelectric panels and solar generators. The earnestness of the young participants, who themed their project around science for the environment, offers a glimpse into a bright future.
This year’s Moonlight Walk also features the "Moonlight Rest Area," designed and produced by "Lamrade." As the festival takes place along the Danghyeoncheon walking trail, three rest areas have been created at key points: the Mathematics Culture Center, the Floor Fountain, and Deulgukhwa Children’s Park.
Through the creation of artistic spaces such as "Sun and Moon" and "Chess," this year’s Moonlight Walk offers a variety of attractions as well as comfortable places to rest.
To ensure that the elderly and people with disabilities can enjoy public art safely, the festival space has been designed to be barrier-free. Nowon District Mayor Oh Seungrok stated, "We have taken great care to ensure that both people with and without disabilities can enjoy these miracles made of light."
A "taxi stand for people with disabilities" has been installed at the Danghyeoncheon Floor Fountain, and young volunteers have recorded "audio guides" for the visually impaired, which are available for all artworks.
Efforts have been made from the planning stage to ensure that the "miracles made of light" can be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of ability.
To foster a citizen-driven festival, Nowon Moonlight Walk operates a "Moonlight Docent" program every year. The docent program runs daily at 7 p.m., and docent services for people with disabilities are available at any time upon request.
For international visitors, two local residents have been selected as docents who can provide explanations in English and Japanese. The "Moonlight Docent Tour," led by residents who have received professional docent training, is also available for visitors.
Since its inception in 2020, Nowon Moonlight Walk has established itself as a public art festival attracting more than 700,000 visitors annually. Visitors can experience art woven into the everyday ecological space.
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