The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Colorful light show to illuminate Seoul's winter night

By Yonhap

Published : Dec. 18, 2019 - 13:52

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A nighttime light show will take place in central Seoul for about two weeks to celebrate the end of this year and the beginning of next year, municipal officials said Wednesday.


(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

The light show, dubbed "Seoul Light," will be staged at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, or DDP, from Friday to Jan. 3, according to officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Design Foundation.

The show featuring a mix of colorful light and visuals and music will be held every hour from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., with the first one scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.

This photo provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government shows a poster of "Seoul Light."

During the show, a spectacular feast of light displayed on the DDP's 220-meter-long curved outer wall from 28 high-end projectors and music from 62 speakers will delight spectators for 16 minutes. The theme of this year's "Seoul Light" show is "Seoul Haemong," which means the past, present and future of Seoul and Dongdaemun, or Great Eastern Gate in Korean.

Refik Anadol, a media artist and director born in Turkey, will participate in the show as the main writer, while media facade artist Min Se-hee will serve as the general director.

"Photos depicting the past of Seoul and Dongdaemun and photographic data of Seoul taken by citizens themselves are collected before being interpreted and recombined through such technologies as AI and machine learning and expressed as light and images. There are also plans to capture stories of various people through citizen voluntary participation," the Seoul Design Foundation said in a release, forecasting the show will further boost night tourism during the winter.

During Christmas and year-end days, special shows will be staged.

On Dec. 24-25, the entire DDP building will turn into a huge gift box, while the image of a New Year countdown will be shown from 11:57 p.m. on Dec. 31.

In time for the light show, "Seoul Light Market" will be held at the DDP and in its vicinity, with about 270 businesses and individuals selling gifts and foods and offering street performances.

The Seoul government said it will foster "Seoul Light" into a representative night tourist content of the capital in the years to come. (Yonhap)