Starting Gwanak-style Artterior Business... Nowon-gu Launches '00 (Gonggong) Museum' Exhibition with Docents

[Seoul District News] Gwanak-gu Recruits 120 Small Business Stores for Design Improvement Support of Interior/Exterior Environment and Products through Local Artists, Up to 1.5 Million KRW Material Cost per Store... Nowon-gu Hosts 'Nowon Village Art Exploration Exhibition, 00 Art Museum' at Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail Gallery from Feb 25 to Mar 13

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, participating in the Gwanak-gu Artterior project site in November 2021

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is launching the ‘2022 Gwanak-style Artterior Project’ to support design improvements for small business stores.

‘Artterior’ is a compound word of Art and Interior, a project where local artists collaborate with small business owners to customize improvements ranging from store interiors such as signs and menus to brand identity (BI) and product packaging production for neighborhood shops.

The district has been promoting this project since 2019 with the aim of creating jobs and providing diverse experiences for local cultural artists, enhancing the competitiveness of small business owners through customized improvements tailored to each store’s characteristics, and revitalizing the depressed alley commercial districts by turning them into popular spots for local residents.

Especially after COVID-19, the number of participating stores has increased every year due to the active participation of small business owners hoping to renew their store atmosphere amid declining sales. Last year’s satisfaction survey of participating small business owners showed an average satisfaction rate of 93.4%, receiving great response.

From 2019 to 2021, a total of 867 stores were supported over three years, with 288 local artists participating in the project. This year, the district will invest 500 million KRW of its budget to carry out the Gwanak-style Artterior Project until June.

The support target is small business stores with fewer than five regular employees in the area that wish to improve the design of their store’s interior and exterior environment or products. A total of 120 store-type shops that purchase products or services will be supported, with a maximum support amount of 1.5 million KRW per store. However, entertainment bars, franchises, chain stores, and stores participating in similar projects are excluded.

The application period is from February 25 to March 15. Residents who wish to participate can check the Gwanak-gu website (News & Notices → Public Announcements), fill out the application form, and submit it along with required documents either by visiting (4th floor, Regional Commercial Revitalization Division, District Office, or local community centers) or by email.

For more details, check the announcement or contact the Regional Commercial Revitalization Division of the district office.

Forty-three local artists participating in the project will be matched with 3 to 4 stores each. They will analyze the surrounding commercial area and reflect the opinions of small business owners to creatively redesign signs, interior decoration, packaging design, etc., in line with current trends, receiving approximately 1.8 million KRW in activity fees per phase.

A district official said, “We expect the Gwanak-style Artterior Project to contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of small business owners and creating jobs for local artists,” adding, “We will continue to actively strive to discover more diverse and effective projects to revitalize the depressed alley commercial districts.”

Author Kyungbeom Park 'Innocence (Subtitle: The Moon and the Girl)'

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that starting February 25, it will hold a photo exhibition titled ‘Nowon Village Art Exploration Exhibition, 00 (Public) Art Museum Exhibition,’ featuring stories of public sculptures scattered throughout Nowon-gu.

The 00 Art Museum Project aims to discover public art works within the area and transform the entire city into one art museum. Since July last year, a professional survey team has investigated about 290 works across five neighborhoods in Nowon-gu, recording artists’ names, locations, etc., and took photos with professional photographers.

This exhibition will display photos of over 40 public art works, including Park Kyung-beom’s ‘Childlike Innocence (Subtitle: Moon and Girl)’ installed in the park next to Nowon Cultural and Arts Center, and Jung Chun-pyo’s ‘Go-eon-baek - Shoot for Tomorrow’ installed in Danghyeoncheon Park.

A QR code docent featuring voices of local residents will also be operated. By scanning the QR code next to each photo, visitors can listen to brief introductions about the artists and meanings of the works recorded by residents themselves. Participants range from teenagers to housewives in their 50s, adding meaningful diversity.

The district expects this exhibition to provide an opportunity to newly appreciate artworks in local parks and streets that people usually pass by without notice, as well as help accumulate and record regional culture.

The exhibition runs until March 13. Visitors can view it for free at the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail Gallery from Tuesday to Friday, 2 PM to 8 PM, and weekends from 12 PM to 8 PM, excluding Mondays when it is closed.

All 290 public art works, including the 40 displayed pieces, can also be viewed on the Nowon Cultural Foundation website and publicmuseum.kr. For related inquiries, contact the Nowon Cultural Foundation.

Meanwhile, in January, the district published a book titled ‘Walking Nowon,’ featuring stories of artists residing in Nowon. Seventeen writers, including Korea’s representative novelist Gu Hyo-seo, poet Kim Eung-gyo, and literary critic Ha Eung-baek, participated as authors, while photographers Park Hae-wook and Lee Ho-seung captured the landscapes of Nowon-gu.

The book contains the history, culture, and the lives and sorrows of Nowon residents. An app is being developed to allow readers to tour the places introduced in the book using augmented reality (AR). Currently, a test version can be downloaded by searching ‘Walking Nowon’ on the Google Play Store, with an official launch planned for the second half of this year.

Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “If you carefully observe the public artworks scattered around, you will feel that Nowon-gu itself is an open-air art museum,” adding, “We will continue to implement various cultural projects to systematically record local art and emotions and share them with residents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.