Have a ‘White Christmas in the City’ at Trade Center in Samseong-dong
In celebration of the Christmas season, the heart of Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu will be adorned with a dazzling display of media art showcasing a festival of lights. The 2024 Seoul Media Art Festival (SMAF 2024) will be held for seven days, from December 19th to 25th, around the Trade Center and the square in front of Exit 6 of Samseong Station. The event is designed to offer the visitors a new form of cultural and artistic experience, utilizing large digital screens and public squares in the Gangnam-gu outdoor advertising district. Additionally, the festival aims to serve as a platform for emerging artists, laying the foundation for the future media industry. The theme of this year's event is "White Forest Fantasia," with a focus on creating a fantastic Christmas light display in the city center, celebrating the season with dazzling media art. Each day during the event, seven screenings will take place, each lasting 15 minutes, consisting of Part 1, the main theme show, and Part 2, the media art show. The show will utilize both indoor and outdoor media screens near the Trade Center. Notably, a total of 71 media screens will be linked together — 17 outdoor and 54 indoor screens — for simultaneous display, while the entire square area in front of Exits 5 and 6 of Samseong Station will be utilized, maximizing the scale and grandeur of the event. The first part, the main theme show, will be an immersive experience focusing on the mystical journey of Christmas stars in the winter city. It will feature a media art performance that integrates the entire outdoor media square, creating a powerful experience of immersion and giving the audience the feeling of stepping into a scene from a movie. The second part, the media art show, will feature diverse pieces of art, with each day assigned to a different partner organization. These include works from Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, EASYWITH, VERSEDAY, The JoongAng, Lay Village, CJ CGV X d’strict, Hongik University X LED.ART, each showcasing unique and creative media art. The festival will also feature SMAF-specialized spaces across the outdoor square in front of Samseong Station Exit 6. The venue will display large-scale installations, including a 6-meter-tall wish tree and a 10-meter LED screen, combined with lighting structures to form the signature Luminaire Show Screen, along with a White Forest that evokes the fantasy of a forest of lights. The event will feature thematic sections and a storytelling approach to enhance the immersive experience, while offering activities like decorating the giant wish tree with ornaments, a photo booths, and a time capsule letter writing experience where visitors can send a wish to be displayed on the digital screen one year later. The 2024 Seoul Media Art Festival is hosted by Gangnam-gu and Public-private Joint Council on Outdoor Advertising Free Display Zones, and organized by WTC Seoul, Parnas Hotel, Hyundai Duty Free, CJ CGV, The Joongang, Hyundai Future Net, and Invent Partners, with support from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Metropolitan Government of Seoul, Gangnam-gu, and the Korea International Trade Association. 박원중 기자 ([email protected])christmas center trade center city center media screens
