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Encounter

Endangered Market and Drifting Art

Daein Market was opened in May 1959, in the east area of Gwangju city.
As the largest traditional market in the south of Korea, the market was packed with shoppers and visitors in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, the relocation of the Gwangju train station and the bus terminal and the provincial government buildings,
coupled with the penetration of conglomerate capital and the popularity of large supermarkets, gradually displaced shoppers and store owners.
At a time when the market’s vitality was almost gone, the 7th Gwangju Biennale in 2008
brought some energy back to the area through the public art “Real Estate Agency Project.”
Artist without workshops were able to borrow empty shops in the market and use them as their studios and galleries.

The participating artists freely demonstrated their creativity upon the old walls standing in the market.
Before long, the worn-out market turned into a carefree art village, completing the interesting combination of a market and art.

In Joy and in Sorrow

Merchants and Artists Form Unexpected Teamwork

A fish seller’s stand sits on the opposite side of a cocktail bar with LP records hanging on the wall;
a modern art gallery stands next to a shop selling Korea’s traditional rice cakes.
More interestingly, this unusual situation seems quite natural.
Moreover, each shop in this market has its owner’s caricature image hanging like a doorplate.
Those artistic plates were donated by resident artists, who also made menu boards and price tags.
In one corner, an artist is making figures with an independently designed 3D printer.

From nostalgic household sundries to artistic works, the market has everything within its boundary.
I went into “Small Gallery” in one corner of Artist’s Street and was enjoying handmade items and paintings
when someone approached me and offered some helpful explanations.
Eun-sol Jo, one of the resident artists in the market, had her own artwork in the gallery too.
She kindly invited me to Dada, her studio and room, so I followed her to the fifth floor of the car park,
which also houses several raw fish restaurants.
Dada is a studio with separate studios for resident artists.

It was never easy for over 400 shops and 100 artists to live under the same roof,
but they gradually became friendly neighbors to one another as they shared joy and sorrow together.
Perhaps that is why the works of these market artists have a strong fragrance of life.
Now, the merchants have become romantic realists, and the artists, realistic romanticists.

We as One

Spend Your Night at Starry Market!

Open on every second Friday and Saturday each month between June and November,
Daein Art Night Market has become a cultural icon of Gwangju, with over 10,000 visitors for each two-day period.
Created for vitalizing the 60-year-long traditional market and stimulating economic activities, this night adventure serves as a venue
where shop owners and resident artists prepare for the night together and enjoy the night along with customers.
Every corner of this market shows how they generously share what they have with each other.
On the last day of the Universiade, merchants, artists, and customers from different nations
and cultures mingled with each other under the bright moonlight.

One of the key factors that brought success to this art market is the community spirit to pursue coexistence.
The shop owners understood and embraced the artists, whose lives have taken entirely different colors.
The artists appreciated their acceptance and tried to close the emotional gap.
Together, they enabled the market and art to coexist based on the idea that no boundary
exists between life and art, and created a space that promises generational reconciliation.
On a starry night, why not spend your weekend at Daein Art Night Market?