Lighting Ceremony at Danghyeoncheon Floor Fountain on the 18th at 7 PM... A 31-Day Festival of Lights
Last Year, 956,000 Visitors Made It a Leading Local Festival! Developed Through Resident Participation, Leading the Qualitative Improvement of Public Art... Rich Side Events Including Media Performances and Street Art Shows, Filling Nowon with an Autumn Full of Shining Art
Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will hold the '2024 Nowon Moonlight Walk' at Danghyeoncheon for one month starting from the 18th.
'Nowon Moonlight Walk' is a public art light sculpture festival held at Danghyeoncheon, an eco-friendly ecological stream. It features various artworks such as light sculptures, hanji lanterns (燈), and new media art that anyone can enjoy together with citizens.
The theme running through this year's '2024 Nowon Moonlight Walk' is ‘Breath.’ With the theme of ‘Breath,’ which can be imagined as the source of life, the principle of harmony and circulation, or rest by some, 41 works will be presented. Two overseas invited artist teams linked with Taiwan’s Tainan Wejin Harbor Lantern Festival, 15 domestic invited artist teams, and 3 teams based in Nowon participated. In addition, works completed by youths together with artists through the youth visual arts education project ‘Moonlight Art School’ will be exhibited, adding more significance.
Notably, BARE’s 'Echoes in the Air' uses thousands of reusable air sculptures to create a work that functions both as an artwork and a resting place. Park Hye-in’s 'Liquid Veil' opens a space for contemplation by watching water flowing inside a glass sculpture installed over Danghyeoncheon.
Other works include Lee Ki-beom’s 'Walk,' In Song-ja’s 'Rest,' and Jeon Studio’s 'Earth City,' which reinterpret traditional hanji as a material for contemporary art.
Artworks created together with various local communities in Nowon-gu will also be exhibited. Artist Ahn Kyung-jin created 'Coexistence: Finding Hidden Faces' with children from Surak Happiness Power Plant, Han Ho-jin made 'Attack of the Shining Poops' with the Choansan Forest Small Library, and Park Geon-jae produced 'I Am Inside!' together with the Seoul Northern Branch of the National School Irregular Workers’ Union.
The Moonlight Walk will take place along a 2km section of the Danghyeoncheon trail from Sanggye Station and Nowon Math Culture Center to Junggye Station and Danghyeon 1 Bridge. On the first day of the festival, the 18th, there will be a lighting ceremony in front of the Danghyeoncheon floor fountain at 7 p.m. After that, visitors can view the artworks daily from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and various side events will be held.
At the opening ceremony, the Biseul Dance Company and Saengdonggam Crew will present performances and LED media performances embodying the theme of the Moonlight Walk. Following that, every weekend on the stage near the floor fountain, street art performances such as musical clown shows, balloon shows, and circuses are scheduled, along with busking performances in various genres including jazz and brass. An orchestra concert will be held on November 2.
A Moonlight Rest Area is set up near the Math Culture Center upstream of Danghyeoncheon. At the Moonlight Bakery inside the rest area, products themed ‘Moon and Light’ such as Moon Rabbit Wind Rice Cake, Full Moon Financier, and Moonlight Dubai Chocolate will be sold. Three food trucks will operate in connection with the local Sanggye Central Market, which will also hold the ‘Sanggye Moonlight Night Market’ on October 19 as a related event to the Moonlight Walk.
Residents who wish to attend the festival can enter freely by coming down to the Danghyeoncheon trail. More than 11 access points for people with disabilities are installed. Visitors who want explanations and guidance on the artworks can receive help from ‘Moonlight Guides.’ The Moonlight Guides are a customized docent program for residents that can accommodate diverse groups such as people with disabilities, youths, and foreigners.
Last year, according to KT Big Data analysis, a total of 956,000 people, averaging about 39,000 visitors per day, viewed the Moonlight Walk, establishing it as a representative festival of the district.
Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “If Dancing Nowon expresses dynamism through movement and the Gyeongchun Line Forest Autumn Music Concert excites with music, the Moonlight Walk is a festival that stimulates emotions through visual arts,” adding, “I hope everyone will recognize the strength of cultural city Nowon through the Moonlight Walk, which is developing into a premium festival that secures both artistic quality and popularity year after year.”
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