Seoul Arts Center

The Seoul Arts Center is a sprawling complex of theaters, museums, and a big old giagantic opera house. The facility is located in Seocho near Nambu Station.
The Seoul Arts Center is home to several companies such as the Seoul National Performing Arts company, the dance and music academies from the National Korean University of Art, and the Arts Council of Korea. Cohabitants include the National Korean Opera as well as the National Ballet and Chorus. It’s like they took all the creative artistic talent, balled it up and plopped right smack in the middle of Seocho gu. Lucky me!
Rebecca and I toured the grounds but were unable to see any shows because we were there way too early. The museums were open however and several galleries had open exhibitions.
Seriously, the place is ginormous. In addition to the center piece Opera house there is the Towol theater, Jayu theater, concert hall, recital hall, Calligraphy museum, Hangaram Art museum, and Hangaram Museum of Design Art. Whew! Told you they packed in the arts for maximum efficiency.
Given they went through all that trouble how could you not stop by on a weekend afternoon? Be sure to check out their website so you can find an afternoon where you can take in one of the three pm performances. Those should be easy on the wallet.
Even if you don’t take in a show, it’s still worth it to walk the grounds and admire the buildings as well as the statuary. Of course if you take in an evening show be sure to break out your fancy duds lest you live for embarassing moments. Though if you’re foreign you probably will be patted on the back if you show up in anything with long sleeves.