Cuando llegas a Gamcheon, un barrio de Busan la segunda cuidad más grande de Corea, lo primero que aparece ante ti son varias hileras de casas con fachadas de tonos pastel, desde azules hasta verdes pálidos.
Cada hilera se eleva un poquito más que la anterior, de modo que ninguna de las viviendas tapa a sus vecinas; este detalle, fruto de la filosofía de la comunidad religiosa de Taegeukdo, simboliza el hecho de que todo el mundo puede prosperar.
Además de esta curiosa disposición, la aldea de Gamcheon está poblada por unos extraños habitantes: esculturas y figuras que, desde distintos rincones, tiñen las calles de arte.
A Gamcheom se le conoce también como Lego City, el Machu Pichu coreano o también la Santorini de Corea, pero¿qué se esconde tras este peculiar pueblo?
It has been called the "Lego village," the "Korean Machu Picchu," the "Santorini on the South Sea…”
Gamcheon, in South Korea’s southern port city of Busan is indeed all of these – a multicolored village that looks like it was made out of candy, with its little green, yellow and blue hillside cubicle houses aligned in a terraced layout over a port and maze of narrow passageways in which to get lost.
You can tell Gamcheon is doing its utmost to distinguish itself from neighboring Busan, a city known for its beautiful beaches, Buddhist temples, film festival and bustling maritime sector.
Los orígenes del pueblo se deben a la comunidad religiosa Taegeukdo, que nació en la tormentosa Corea de principios de 1900 y predica con una filosofía basada en la polaridad, con conceptos como el ying y el yang.
Tras la guerra que azotó Corea, en 1955, durante la reconstrucción de Busan, se pidió a unas 800 familias de este movimiento religioso que se mudaran a una zona cercana, donde se alzaron las primeras casas del pueblo.
A pesar de encontrarse junto a Busan, en Gamcheon no existen rascacielos, solo humildes viviendas en un paisaje montañoso y calles laberínticas donde reina la tranquilidad.
Durante décadas, los habitantes de Gamcheon pintaron sus viviendas de colores, pero no fue hasta 2009 cuando el pueblo se transformó en una obra de arte viviente. Distintos artistas llevaron a cabo un proyecto que implicó decorar calles y fachadas con colores vivos e instalar esculturas, como una figura de El Principito junto al zorro que puedes ver en un rincón, mirando hacia el puerto de Busan.
In Gamcheon – officially known as Gamcheon Culture Village – you are somewhere else all together. You don't enter the village; you sidle in under the playful eye of gargoyles perched on the roofs of the first houses.
Then, suddenly, you bump into a bright mural. These works of art, painted on the corners of passageways, are not there by chance. In 2009, the South Korean ministry of culture freed up funds to rehabilitate certain working-class and neglected neighborhoods across the country. Gamcheon is one of them, and the result is amazing. Eleven local artists presented projects. There are gargoyles, murals, but also fish-shaped road signs and Little Prince sitting up on high, contemplating the village.
Initially reluctant, locals were eventually won over by the project. Thirty-eight works of art are on display. Empty houses were bought and transformed into galleries and cafes. Many artists moved here. There is a new monthly magazine, a new pottery workshop; and public baths were transformed into an exhibition space. New ideas for development are being discussed by the local villagers and the city of Busan. There could soon be an art market, and maybe even artist-in-residence programs for foreign artists.
Sube al punto elevado conocido como Sky Garden, donde se encuentra el centro de visitantes, para tener unas vistas generales de Gamcheon, y, acto seguido, baja hasta el pueblo y piérdete por entre sus intrincadas callejuelas, que esconden sorpresas como instalaciones artísticas en casas abandonadas.
Los pintorescos escenarios de Gamcheon esconden una triste realidad: muchas familias dejan el pueblo, y pocos quieren instalarse en este enclave. Si viajas por Corea del Sur, ¡visita este lugar antes de que sea demasiado tarde!
It was a poor village. Electricity only appeared in 1965 and running water in the 1970s. There was a primary school but the high school was too far, so the community had to build its own. The village was also plagued with a cholera epidemic in the 1960s.
Its structure has not changed much. Gamcheon never interested property developers. They didn’t see the economic interest. In modern South Korea, people were more interested in bustling Busan.
Today it is mostly the tourists that are flowing in – in increasing numbers: 250,000 in 2011; 300,000 in 2012. A success that threatens the village’s tranquility, prompting Gamcheon to limit the hours at which tourists can visit.
Llevo puesto jersey de cuello alto y pantalón de ARMANI, zapatos de TOPMAN y abrigo de COS
I am wearing a turtleneck and jeans from ARMANI, shoes from TOPMAN and a coat from COS