Busan Museum of Art

There are many things I haven’t had a chance to do yet in Busan – one of those is visiting the museums.  Today I decided to take a trek uptown to the Busan Museum of Art.  It’s located right in the heart of Haeundae near BEXCO and Centum City.  Surrounded by all the mega-sized modern structures, the museum is impressive looking in it’s own right.  This area of Busan is fairly new, especially in comparison to the rest of the city.  I live near an area called Nampo-dong which was one of the original hubs for commerce and entertainment in Busan.  Some of the original Busan International Film Festivals (BIFF or PIFF of old romanization) were in Nampo-dong.  BIFF in Nampo-dong is more or less an intersection among the streets.  The new location for the BIFF functions is in Haeundae and is a massive, stadium-sized complex that has a 4,000 seat outdoor cinema.  Just another example of how Haeundae is a newer, larger-than-life version of Busan’s past self.

The Busan Art Museum is no different.  If you like to view art exhibitions, this museum will not let you down.  It is a very cleanly presented and easy to follow the floor plans.  The Busan Museum of Art is definitely a great way to spend an afternoon.

The exhibition I visited was called “Among the Four Seasons”.  Here is the description of the exhibition from the museum website (English version):

“Beneath the blazing sunlight of summer, children are building little toad mounds by the seaside. The mounds are built by piling sand on top of the left hand, while the right one works. Once it is complete the left hand is taken out to leave a tunnel. ‘Toad, toad, I will give you my old house if you give me your new house. Give me your new house and I will give you my old one.’ This is a typical image you find of children playing near the sea or the stream in the summer. Elderly people enjoy splashing water by the well or listening to the cicada cries under the large embracing tree. A sudden shower is a most welcoming guest cooling the heat of summer. The exhibition is a continuation from the first one,presenting the Busan Museum of Art’s collection on art with the summer theme. The shade created by the tree leaves and forests cools the summer heat. The dark greens made by the dense forests create the summer landscape and in between rays of sunlight pierce through. Like the paintings that depict the cool breeze and summer showers we hope that you will come and enjoy the essence of summer.”