Gamcheon Culture Village

Fun Facts

• • Before the 2009 arts initiative, the village was widely considered an impoverished shanty town with minimal tourism infrastructure.
• • One of the most famous installations is the Little Prince and the Fennec Fox statue, which has become a pilgrimage point for tourists wanting the perfect photo opportunity with the village in the background.
• • Painted schools of fish installations can be found throughout the alleyways, acting as a creative wayfinding system to guide tourists through the complex, labyrinthine street network.
• • The 'Empty House' project converted many abandoned homes, left behind by people moving out of the village, into functional art galleries, museums, and studios.
• • The architecture remains unique because the houses were built without blocking the view of the residents living in the homes situated above them, a deliberate design for communal harmony.
• • The art project involved the community directly, encouraging local residents to maintain and decorate their own homes, which helped foster a sense of pride and ownership.
• • The nickname Machu Picchu of Busan was given to the village because of its terraced housing layout that clings to the steep mountainside, resembling the famous Peruvian site.
• • The village creates a striking visual contrast where the brightly coloured, modern art installations sit directly alongside weathered, older buildings that date back several decades.
• • The village owes much of its distinctive layout to the Taegeukdo religion, a branch of Jeungsanism, which dictated the initial spatial planning and residential arrangements of the refugee settlement.
• • Visitors often discover the 'Stairway to See the Stars', a challenging set of steep stairs that locals humorously claim makes you dizzy enough to see stars.