Sihwa Culture Village, Gwangju

<#301 Reporter’s Sketch>
 
A Gallery of Murals
- Sihwa Culture Village, Gwangju -
 
By Jeon Joo-hee, Student Editor
 
▲ One of the many murals at Sihwa village
Have you ever heard of a Mural village? On September 26th, “One Day Two Nights”, the hit entertainment program on KBS, broadcast several scenes in which Lee Seung-gi visited Leehwa village, one of the Mural villages in Seoul, and took a commemorative photograph, posing like an angel. After watching the program, I wanted to visit the Leehwa village in order to see the beautiful murals in the place. However, I do not have to go to Seoul to visit the Leehwa village because, to my surprise, there is a mural village very close to us in Gwangju.
It is the Sihwa village in Munhwa-dong, Buk-gu. The Sihwa village is the first project, one of the “Project for Creating Sihwa Culture Village” hosted by the Buk-gu District Office and Citizen Autonomy Committee in Buk-gu. You can get on the number 81 bus at the Chonnam National University (CNU) bus stop to visit the Sihwa village located at the nearby Kakhwa Middle School. The Sihwa village held the Poem and Picture Environment Art Festival from August 10th to September 25th. Unfortunately, this festival was not well advertised and not many people knew about it.  Through the summer, many students of universities located in Gwangju, including CNU, Chosun University and so on contributed to the festival by drawing the various murals.
The completed murals display unusual street scenes. Through the forest composed of many apartments, you can see the lanes filled with flowers in full blossom against the walls. As the road is very narrow, you quickly forget the cityand the air is filled with the sound of birds chirping. There’s a gate with a dog’s picture on it and with a sign that says “Beware of dog”. You can even hear the sound of a dog barking in the house. Except for that, there are musical notes throughout the streets. It seems to emulate the music inside me. It takes an hour to explore the Mural alleyway of Sihwa village, walking slowly. Nevertheless, you can get enormous pleasure from the sculptures and mural arts. The village also has extremely beautiful landmarks for those that like to take pictures. Recently, many alleys have been disappearing in cities due to indiscriminate development. Gwangju is no exception. Walking to the alleyway of the Sihwa village, I even felt as though I was walking down a country road for the first time in a long time. How about walking the alleyway full of pretty murals on a clear autumn day? You will feel refreshed in just one hour. Just one hour.  
저작권자 © Chonnam Tribune 무단전재 및 재배포 금지