[Well-curated] Hanok bakery, sound art and old photos take you back in time, space

If you are either a hanok lover or a dessert maniac, the hanok-themed Hyegyeonggung Bakery is the place to visit as a chill creeps into the air.

From fascinating desserts to a large garden where you can go for a light stroll, Hyegyeonggung Bakery has it all to make for a quality weekend.

Located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, some 40 kilometers south of Seoul, the three-story bakery offers unique pastries, muffins, cakes, croissants and more. Taste sweet apple jam and cream cheese in the Apple Bread, a signature item.

Visitors take out their cameras to take pictures of the bakery’s newest addition, Baby Butt, a cream cheese baked good, and Cream Montblanc.

The bakery offers a wide range of drinks, including coffee, tea, fruit ades and more.

After paying for the food, visitors are left with two choices: take a seat at the second and third floors of the bakery or head for the outdoor seating.

Visitors can enjoy the hanok-style interior or take in the crisp autumn air, warm sunlight and fragrance of pine trees with the outside seating.

After you have had your sweet fills, feel free to stroll around in the nature near the bakery, where small shops line the trail.

Hyegyeonggung Bakery is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on both weekdays and weekends.

The bakery is packed on weekends. A good time to visit is just before lunch, as many baked goods will be sold out by later in the afternoon, one employee suggested.

Sound art at MMCA Cheongju

Sometimes you remember a space by sound.

The exhibition “MMCA Cheongju Project 2022: Urban Resonance," now running through Nov. 27, features sound art offering visitors a chance to sense everyday spaces we live in through sound. The works are on display in an outdoor space on the first and sixth floors of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

As part of the exhibition, four cabins are installed on the museum's grassy plaza.

Sitting inside a cabin, you can enjoy the pleasant fall weather while listening to sounds Kim collected from the natural environs of South Jeolla Province, Gangwon Province, Australia and New Zealand over several years. “Valuable Sounds,” installations accompanied by photographs he took in those places, offer a chance for meditation.

For the auditory experience of a city, head to Team Triad's exhibition. Meanwhile, Seo-ryang presents two works recalling the museum’s former building -- a cigarette factory. Kwon Byung-jun’s “From Cheongju to Kyiv” is an audio-augmented reality work.

Look back on old Korea

An exhibition exploring the material culture of photography in Seoul opened last week at the Seoul Metropolitan Archives located in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul.

“Photo Studios and Photo Labs” chronicles the development of photography technology and the history of Korea’s photography industry by looking into records of photo studios and photographic materials dealers.

The exhibition focuses on the period from 1883 to 1961. The year 1883 was when photography was first introduced in Korea, and in 1961 photography-related organizations here were merged into a single association, the Photographic Society of Korea. The name was changed to the Photo Artists Society of Korea in the 1970s.

During the period, Myeong-dong and Jongno were photo studio hubs. Photo studios played a special role for all those important moments in life, as people took portrait photos to mark those significant moments.

A joint project between the Seoul Metropolitan Archives and the Research Institute of Photographic Archives, the exhibition highlights different aspects of photography in Seoul beyond the concept of photography as a means of recording.

The Archives is scheduled to conduct photography-related educational programs on Nov. 11 and Dec. 9. The Nov. 11 program will focus on restoring analog photos while the Dec. 9 lecture will be on black-and-white photo printing. Reservations can be made at the official website of the Seoul Metropolitan Archives on a first-come, first-served basis from Oct. 28.

“Photo Studios and Photo Labs” runs through Oct. 8, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is closed every Monday.

For more information, visit the official website of the Seoul Metropolitan Archives.