Saudi Arabia’s Tuwaiq Sculpture exhibition opens doors to art, cultural exchange

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Saudi sculptor Lamia Moraished. (Tuwaiq Sculpture)
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Iranian sculptor Sahar Khalaji. (Tuwaiq Sculpture)
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Egyptian sculptor Ahmed Karaly. (Tuwaiq Sculpture)
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Updated 18 February 2024
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Saudi Arabia’s Tuwaiq Sculpture exhibition opens doors to art, cultural exchange

  • Held under the theme ‘Dimensions of Movement,’ symposium is spotlighting 30 artists from around the world
  • Lamia Moraished: ‘The symposium wasn’t just about contributing a piece, but it was also a global cultural experience’

RIYADH: In the past month, 30 artists from 20 countries carved and sculpted their way through raw stone. Now, the annual Tuwaiq Sculpture symposium has opened its doors to the public, displaying their large-scale public works until Feb. 24 just north of ROSHN Front.

Under the theme “Dimensions of Movement,” each artist explored the progress and expansion they all witnessed across the Kingdom, specifically Riyadh, in their own language. The symposium is curated by Head Curator Marek Wolynski, and Associate Curator Fahad Al-Jebreen.

Wolynski told Arab News: “‘Dimensions of Movement’ pays tribute to how society can develop and integrate progress within daily life. I’m hoping that (it) captures a moment in time and serves as a point of reference for the generations to come.”

Once the sculptures are relocated to public spaces across the Kingdom’s capital, he hopes they will reflect the optimism, passion, and dynamism embedded within Saudi society.

The 30 artists not only carved raw granite into large-scale artworks, but also shared breakfasts and dinners, enjoyed cultural exchanges and Sunday excursions, demonstrating that Tuwaiq’s goal is to forge collaboration between artist communities around the world.

“It’s not only about the production of sculptures, it’s predominantly about the exchange of knowledge and transfer of skills that happens between artists themselves,” Wolynski said.

The program received an unprecedented 700 applications from 84 countries. After careful selection by the jury panel, 30 artists were selected from Saudi Arabia, China, India, Iran, through to the Arab world, Europe and South America, including Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada, and others.

Spanish artist Jordi Raga has developed methodologies that combine constructive and subtractive techniques using manual and digital technologies. The work intends to behave as a sundial during the summer solstice.

Influenced by the notions of progress and evolution, Raga has centered two of Saudi Arabia’s most vibrant cities, Riyadh and Makkah, in his artwork titled “The Spark,” which combines techniques of manual and digital technologies. Using 3D software, he predicted a shadow that points from Riyadh to Makkah on June 21, reflecting the importance of will and hope as a driver of progress and evolution.

“The spark is the beginning of a chain reaction. So, all progress can create a revolution … I believe art is a catalyst as well,” Raga told Arab News.

The Spanish artist’s practice also champions sustainability. At Tuwaiq, he made a point to generate a spatial experience with minimal materials and waste.

The cohort features 10 Saudi artists, half of whom are women. Artist Azhar Saeed centered her work, titled “Extension,” around the Kingdom’s multitude of pioneering feats in various fields.

“It symbolizes an extension of past efforts, from the Kingdom’s foundation until now. The country is experiencing the largest construction renaissance in the modern Arab world, so we as Saudis are working quickly and ambitiously to cope with this change,” she told Arab News.

The five stone pieces, derived from the geometrical shape of honeycombs, are a nod to the essential component of cooperation between various projects under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Saudi artist Lamia Moraished’s sculpture consists of horizontal columns resting on natural-textured stone pieces. The work intends to evoke a feeling of firmness and solidity even while in movement.

“The symposium wasn’t just about contributing a piece, but it was also a global cultural experience. We created friendships, exchanged knowledge and cultures, and learned about sculptural heritage in other countries as well,” she told Arab News.

The program also incorporates public engagement through ongoing workshops, panel discussions, masterclasses, and university and school visits. The program was designed to “allow for the community to embrace the transformation on different levels,” Wolynski said.

“This is very important, especially for children to see different models for things they can do in the future. If they see art, they can think maybe to become creators in multiple fields, so that’s already a catalyst,” Raga noted.


Christie’s expert highlights key pieces ahead of Islamic art sale in London

Updated 15 October 2024
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Christie’s expert highlights key pieces ahead of Islamic art sale in London

DUBAI: Luxury auction house Christie’s is set to host its Art of the Islamic and Indian World sale at its headquarters in London on Oct. 24, with objects spanning more than 1,000 years of history.

Sara Plumbly, who heads up the auction house’s Art of the Islamic and Indian World department, spoke to Arab News about key pieces in the sale.

The auction will offer a curated selection of carpets, ceramics, manuscripts, textiles, works on paper and metalwork from across the Islamic world, some of which went on show at Christie’s Dubai outlet earlier this month.

The Oct. 24 sale will be led by a rare silk Safavid Polonaise carpet from the early 17th century, valued at between $1,300,000-$2,600,000, and a pair of bevelled Sasanian silver bottles from Iran, from the 6th or 7th century. 

A pair of bevelled Sasanian silver bottles. (Supplied)

The bottles are a highlight for Plumbly as they represent a rare look at a style of adornment that foreshadowed the early Islamic bevelled style of architecture style seen in Samarra, Iraq, in the 9th century.

“They’re a kind of pivotal piece in that they’re Sasanian, they’re pre-Islamic, but they are informing the art and the architecture of future dynasties,” she said of the gilt-and-silver pieces.

With an estimated value of $270,000–$390,000, the bevelled bottles were on show in Dubai and visitors marvelled at the strikingly modern style of the raised carvings.

A rare silk Safavid 'Polonaise' carpet. (Supplied)

“One of the things that appeals to me the most is the design, it almost feels Art Nouveau or something,” Plumbly said, referring to the form popularized at the start of the 20th century.

Another highlight in the auction is a Florentine portrait of Ottoman leader Suleiman the Magnificent, painted in Italy circa 1600.

Florentine portrait of Süleyman the Magnificent. (Supplied)

Artist Cristofano dell’Altissimo, or a member of his circle, painted the tenth and longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman empire based on a previous painting of the sultan, which had been sent to Florence.

“Barbarossa met with his counterpart, a French admiral, and presented to him this wonderful ebony and ivory box that was … filled with portraits of Ottoman sultans … and so that was copied,” Plumbly explained, referring to Hayreddin Barbarossa, admiral of the Ottoman Navy.

The Italian version of the image of Suleiman became widely distributed across Europe and informed the European image of one of the most well-known Ottoman sultans in history.

The auction encompasses “everything from the of birth of Islam, so the 7th century, right up until the 19th, and from Spain to China,” Plumbly said of the wide-ranging lots set to go under the hammer next week.


Empowering communication: App bridges gaps for Arabic-speaking deaf community

Reem Turky, the founder of Tawaasuly. (Supplied)
Updated 13 October 2024
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Empowering communication: App bridges gaps for Arabic-speaking deaf community

  • Reem Turky’s Tawaasuly aims to elevate the disabled customer experience to a new era

RIYADH: The creator of an Arabic sign language translation app has spoken about how she aims to improve accessibility for deaf people, helping them integrate into society.

Reem Turky, the founder of Tawaasuly, has created a significant tool for the deaf community in the Arabic-speaking world. The app serves as a bridge between deaf and hearing people, offering dual communication channels.

Tawaasuly translates Arabic speech and text into Arabic sign language using 3D animation and converts sign language gestures back into spoken or written Arabic.

By collaborating with experts in the field, the app adapts to the nuances and variations of Arabic sign language, ensuring contextually appropriate translations. (Supplied)

“We aim to realize service providers’ visions by elevating the disabled customer experience to a new era,” Turky told Arab News.

Tawaasuly facilitates communication, engages the Arabic deaf community in society and enables users to live independently from their families and translators. It also helps service-driven enterprises gain recognition as innovators in customer experience while addressing environmental, social and governance issues.

Turky’s journey to create Tawaasuly was deeply personal. “I witnessed the challenges faced by my colleague, who struggled to communicate in social and professional settings,” she said.

We utilize a combination of machine learning and voice-to-text recognition technologies to translate between Arabic language and Arabic sign language.

Reem Turky, Founder of Tawaasuly

“This experience ignited my passion to create a solution that bridges communication gaps.”

Recognizing that existing tools for the Arabic-speaking deaf community were inadequate and culturally misaligned, she was motivated to develop Tawaasuly.

“Our mission is to empower the deaf community by providing accessible communication that promotes inclusion and understanding,” Turky said.

“We utilize a combination of machine learning and voice-to-text recognition technologies to translate between Arabic language and Arabic sign language.”

By collaborating with experts in the field, the app adapts to the nuances and variations of Arabic sign language, ensuring contextually appropriate translations.

Feedback from users has been positive. Many have expressed gratitude for the app’s user-friendly interface and accurate translations.

“It significantly enhances their ability to communicate in various settings, from education to social interactions,” Turky said.

But she said she had faced challenges in trying to raise awareness of the app.

“The prevailing stigma around deafness and limited awareness of available technologies has been our main challenge,” she said.

The team is dedicated to educating both the deaf community and companies about the app’s benefits. Its impact is measured through user feedback, social engagement and usage statistics.

Turky said: “One user shared that Tawaasuly helped her engage frequently with hearing communities after years of isolation.”

She hopes that in five years Tawaasuly, with increased functionality, including more languages and dialects, will be the go-to communication tool for deaf people across the Arabic-speaking world. She said she also planned to launch an enterprise version of the app to help companies serve deaf customers better.

The company is currently pursuing partnerships with startups focusing on AI and text-to-speech technologies, as well as collaborations with educational institutions and nongovernmental organizations that advocate for disability rights.

“We prioritize sustainable practices in our operations, such as green IT and community outreach programs,” Turky said.

She believes that technology plays a crucial role in improving accessibility for disabled communities.

“It can enhance communication, provide access to information and create inclusive environments for disabled individuals,” she said.

Witnessing the positive impact of Tawaasuly on users’ lives has been rewarding for Turky.

“Knowing that Tawaasuly helps bridge communication gaps is my motivation,” she said.

 

Decoder

What is Tawaasuly?

Tawaasuly is an app that translates Arabic speech and text into Arabic sign language using 3D animation and converts sign language gestures back into spoken or written Arabic. Tawaasuly founder Reem Turky said the app facilitates communication, engages the Arabic deaf community in society and enables users to live independently from their families and translators.


Saudi artist Daniah Alsaleh: ‘We can celebrate tradition, but we really need to be open to change’ 

Updated 11 October 2024
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Saudi artist Daniah Alsaleh: ‘We can celebrate tradition, but we really need to be open to change’ 

  • The Saudi artist discusses some of her favorite works and their common themes 

DUBAI: “I call myself a visual artist that focuses on social conditioning and memory.” That’s Saudi artist Daniah Alsaleh’s ‘elevator pitch.’ But, like all such handy soundbites, it fails to convey the complexity and ambition of her layered, multimedia works, which have seen her land several prestigious residencies and awards, including the 2019 Ithra Art Prize. 

For someone whose work has made such an impression on so many, Alsaleh took quite some time to convince herself she was ready to present that work, which at the time was largely influenced by Islamic geometry, to the world.  

“I was interested in art from a young age, but I never really had the opportunity — I went to school and university in Riyadh, where I was born,” Alsaleh tells Arab News. “It was when I moved to Jeddah that I really got into art. I studied at the atelier of Safeya Binzagr, who recently passed away, for probably five, six years. That’s how I really learned the basics of drawing, painting, color theory, shape and form. Then, every time I had the chance to travel abroad, I would take courses in paintings and life drawings. I got hooked on Islamic geometry, and then — after all these years of learning arts, probably around 10 years, I had the confidence to actually finish artworks.” 

Her first show was a group exhibition in 2012. “No one knew who I was, but a lot of the people asked about my work,” she says. In 2013, she joined the roster of artists at Athr Gallery. Now, she says, “it was getting serious,” and she decided to become a full-time artist. In 2014, she moved to London. 

“I decided to apply for a Master’s in Fine Art at Goldsmiths. I didn’t get in but they offered me a place on another program, which was called Computational Arts and that changed my practice completely, 180 degrees,” she says. “This program catered for artists with no background in technology and we were taught how to use physical computing to create installations, and coding as well — like processing and frameworks. I really got hooked. Machine learning resonated with me — we don’t call it AI, we call it machine learning; it’s a program that learns. It changed my practice completely from Islamic geometry to a more contemporary way of expressing myself.  

“I’m not an AI artist. I’m a visual artist,” she continues. “I have machine learning in my toolbox, next to my paints and next to my canvas and next to my videos and next to my audio files and next to my photos. And depending on the context, I just choose which tool I want to use.” 

As suggested by her elevator pitch, that context usually involves exploring our relationship with memory and media.  

“I’m interested in social conditioning in the everyday — things that we take at face value, things that we take for granted,” she says. “These things that we habitually do, where do they come from? And usually I look at media and how that affects us; how it affects our memory, what stays and what gets erased. And how we reprogram our memories, sometimes, just from looking at content on social media. So that’s really what my interest is.” 

Here, Alsaleh talks us through some of her most significant works. 

‘Restitution’ 

This is an example of my older work. It’s from 2017. You see this perfectly organized structure — five panels of hand-drawn Islamic patterns — but then there’s this random brushstroke across them all. That’s my intervention. It’s a commentary on how we are very hooked on celebrating tradition and practices. We can celebrate and appreciate history and tradition, but, at the same time, we really need to be open to change — accepting new things and new ideas. 

‘Sawtam’ 

This artwork — an audio-visual installation — was a big transition for me; a big jump from my paintings. It was created while I was still doing my Master’s, and it’s the piece that won the Ithra Art Prize in 2019. It addresses forms of expression. The visuals were inspired by Manfred Mohr, a German new-media artist who created similar images based on algorithms in the Sixties, and they move or vibrate every time the sound comes out. There were sounds coming from every screen — the pronunciation of the Arabic letters — and when you put them all together in one space, it’s like a cacophony of noise. It’s a commentary on how communication sometimes gets lost, or sometimes gets through. It has a lot of meanings, and it’s very layered, but it’s basically about communication and forms of expression.  

‘That Which Remains’ 

This is a large installation I did for the first edition of the Diriyah Biennale. Again, it’s about memory: collective memory versus individual memory. Collective memory is where we remember things in monuments and celebrations — like National Days. That’s where our collective memory is. But within individual memories, a lot of things get lost, especially when there’s a lot of development and change. So, it’s a — very gentle — commentary about what we’re witnessing and experiencing in Saudi Arabia right now: the individual memories of these characters on the cylinders, which are the buildings and the houses and the structures that are being developed and changed.  

The faces on the cylinders are machine-generated. They’re deep fakes. I collected my own data sets of faces, and then trained the machine to learn to create new faces for me. And then I took those new faces and transferred them onto the cylinders. The paintings are inside-out, so when the cylinder is lit, you can see these shadows of these faces. And then people who visit say, ‘Oh, she resembles my aunt, this resembles my uncle’ and so on. They might resemble them, because they have Saudi or Gulf aesthetics, and the machine learns what you focus on. So if my data set focuses on a certain aesthetic, that’s what it creates. But these people never existed. 

‘Evanesce’ 

This was actually based on my degree show at university. I have two identities: The Western identity and the Gulf identity. And whenever I’m in the West, the news is so different from the news you see in the Middle East. Like, since the Iraq War, all the images you see about Iraq are destruction and war and poverty and craziness and explosions and guns. But what I know about Iraq is culture and arts and literature and science. So for my degree show I collected all these images, Iraqi images, from the 40s, 50s and 60s, for the machine-learning program and created these new images with, like old photo aesthetics. But they’re all deep fakes. And “Evanesce” is a continuation of this research, but focused on the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema. I watched a lot of Egyptian movies, and I collected 15 tropes that are repeated in most of them — the extravagant stairways, the cars, answering the old classical telephone, the belly dancer, the family gathering over breakfast, the chaos in the morning, the protagonists and their friends, the embrace and the romance, the palm trees and the close up of certain buildings. I created data sets based on each trope, and then each data set was trained on a machine-learning program. So then I had 15 outputs of this machine learning based on these tropes, which I stitched together to create this 10-minute film. And this morphing from one image to the other that you see in the video just resembles how we remember things. Again, it’s a commentary about social conditioning. These movies are so prevalent and so important in the MENA region within conservative societies, but the images on screen really contradicted their culture and their values. So it’s a commentary on how, as a society, we watch these things that really contradict our belief system and tradition. But there’s some sort of… it’s similar to obsession. These movie stars and these movies were an obsession to a lot of people within conservative countries. It’s instilled in the collective memory and still resonates to this day. These movies spread from North Africa to the Middle East, to lots of regions where there are a lot of conservatives. So there’s a lot of tension and contradiction between these two worlds. 

‘Hinat’ 

This is an important piece for me. It was created during a residency I had in AlUla in 2022. It’s based on this Nabatean woman — Hinat — who has a tomb in (Hegra). That was very inspiring to me. Obviously, she was from a very prominent family, because she was wealthy enough to have a tomb for herself, and it was under her name. This installation is made up of collages of different views of AlUla and I cut out rectangles on each canvas, and I projected videos into the rectangles. These videos are inspired by Hinat, imagining her future generations, from her bloodline, living in AlUla and roaming around across these landscapes. And the videos were created by machine learning. I hired three ladies from AlUla. We went to different locations and got them to wear these different colorful fabrics. The we shot videos and created data sets from each video, and then trained the program, and it created these very ghostly, abstract figures that move across these landscapes. 

‘E Proxy’ 

This was part of a solo show I did in 2023. It’s a video in which a face morphs into an emoji and then morphs back into a face. It’s a commentary about the ubiquity of emojis and the way we express ourselves in emoticons and pictograms. It’s interesting to me and it’s important. You can’t express our range of emotions in, like, 10 or 20 smileys. It’s just so restrictive. So, what’s happening there? I’m not giving an answer, but I’m opening up a space for questioning ourselves. And, listen, I’m a big advocate of emojis — they help me save time. But I’m asking what is happening here: Is it conditioning us into being less expressive? Or are we conditioning it to be a tool to help us express ourselves? There is this duality. I mean, there’s no correct point of view; it’s very subjective. But it’s always worth raising these questions. 

‘The Gathering’ 

This was the result of another residency I did, supported by the French Embassy in Saudi Arabia, with Catherine Gfeller, a French-Swiss artist. We wanted to know who are the females that are living in Riyadh — not necessarily Saudis — as it goes through this explosion of art and culture and infrastructure. I was born and raised in Riyadh — I live in Jeddah now, but I know Riyadh very well, and I’ve seen the changes. And I’m just in awe and disbelief at what I’m seeing. So, to cut a long story short, we did an open call, and there were 37 ladies who participated who came from 11 different countries — different backgrounds, different generations, different professions. We interviewed them and videoed those interviews, and my focus was on the emotional side of things: How do you deal with loneliness in a big city? What does love mean to you? What about resentfulness? How about forgiveness? Then the audio of the interviews kind of fades in and out. I put them all together as though we’re sharing our thoughts and emotions — a female gathering. And the videos were all manipulated by AI as well; it’s a layered effect, and it’s referencing the different aspects of emotion that we go through.  

‘36’ 

This was part of the same project as “The Gathering.” It’s a composite of the faces of all the women who took part, except for one lady who refused to take off her niqab, so I couldn’t include her in this image. I don’t think this was a new idea — I bet it’s been done many times before — but what I wanted was a commentary on… faced with this perception of what Saudi Arabia is and what Riyadh is and who the women there are… actually, it’s a multicultural city with diverse backgrounds. And when you see this image, you don’t know where the ‘person’ comes from, what their ethnic background is, among other things. You can think of many things when you look at that image.  


REVIEW: ‘The Wild Robot’ — big on spectacle, big on emotion 

Updated 11 October 2024
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REVIEW: ‘The Wild Robot’ — big on spectacle, big on emotion 

DUBAI: With “The Wild Robot,” Chris Sanders has created a masterpiece of modern cinema. Visually stunning — imagine the most vivid painting come to life in all its glorious color and detail — with a fresh take on a familiar story, soaring background score and impeccable voicework from industry heavyweights. This is not just the best animated feature in recent cinema history, but one of the best movies, period. 

“The Wild Robot,” based on the children’s book of the same name by Peter Brown, tells the story of a helper robot — ROZZUM unit 7134 (or Roz), voiced by Lupita Nyong’o — who washes up on the beach of an uninhabited (by humans, anyway) island after the cargo ship transporting her is caught in a typhoon.  

“The Wild Robot” tells the story of a helper robot — ROZZUM unit 7134 (or Roz), voiced by Lupita Nyong’o — who washes up on the beach of an uninhabited (by humans, anyway) island after the cargo ship transporting her is caught in a typhoon. (Supplied)

The opening sequence follows Roz as she desperately looks for a master, chasing down the wild animals on the island, looking to be of service. Sanders creates magic as we’re introduced to the island’s inhabitants at breakneck speed. with visuals that mimic the hand-painted feel of the famed Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki’s work. 

While most of the island’s critters shy away from Roz’s exuberance, she finds purpose when she encounters an orphaned baby gosling, whom she eventually names Brightbill (Kit Connor). She decides to partner with local outcast, the wily fox Fink (voiced by a deliciously mischievous Pedro Pascal), to raise it. 

“The Wild Robot.” (Supplied)

What follows is a heartwarming story about what robots and parents are and are not programmed to do. From teaching Brightbill — the runt of his pack, not built to survive — to swim and fly so he can make it to the next great migration, to eliminating external threats, to surviving the harsh winter, Roz helps in every way she knows how, until she unlocks a reserve of potential she didn’t even know she had. It’s a feeling any parent will instantly recognize. 

Nyong’o puts her Oscar-winning talent to extraordinary use; her android voice at first devoid of feeling and infused with the people-pleasing measured cadence of a service professional, then slowly transforming into something entirely different. 

Get ready to sit with some big emotions surrounding parenting, community and friendship, then. “The Wild Robot” was engineered to make you cry, and cry you will. Best you can do is let it take you on its soulful journey. 


South Korea: easy on the eye, not so easy on the wallet 

Updated 11 October 2024
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South Korea: easy on the eye, not so easy on the wallet 

  • It’s deservedly popular with tourists from the Gulf, but make sure to watch your budget 

DUBAI: First off, a trip to South Korea is expensive. There’s no two ways about it. A return trip from Dubai costs in excess of $2,300 unless you opt to spending two days travelling in each direction. I chose the former. 

There’s a perception that if you love Japan, you’ll also love South Korea. In fact, I found that South Korea was nothing like Japan. But why should it be? The Japanese dynasty ended a long time ago. Korea feels more humble, less in-your-face. 

Seoul — the capital city — is large, clean, and very Western. The Metro system is busy and frequent, but unlike the public transport networks in the West, it feels safe. People are conscious of each other’s personal space and with a population of just over 10 million they need to be. But there’s no obvious fear of crime, everyone seems to have their heads buried in their phones. (For tourists, that might be because they’re checking their Korean translation app, an absolute necessity.) 

Starfield library. (Shutterstock)

To get the real vibe of this sprawling city — which is not dissimilar to Manhattan in New York — it’s worth walking the skyscraper-lined streets.  

There are coffee shops pretty much everywhere you look. And in the malls, food courts are filled with baked goods, noodles and all varieties of meat. And while the fare is OK, none of it feels especially Asian, and judging by comments made by chefs this writer knows, Korea is not a place for foodies.  

There’s a wide assortment of tours on offer — including a full day at the Demilitarized Zone on the North Korean border, which costs around $100 but is worth the effort and investment just to see across to the North with the guard posts in the distance and the 100-meter-high mast carrying the North Korean flag. You can also walk along a very claustrophobic tunnel dug by the North Koreans into the south. 

Jeju Island. (Shutterstock)

Back in Seoul, the Starfield Library boasts a vast collection of 50,000 books in shelves that scale two floors – a must for those seeking an Instagrammable moment. There’s also a kitsch tribute to the novelty pop hit “Gangnam Style” — if indeed that is your style. 

Seoul’s Anguk area is worth spending some time in; the art galleries and cafés have a youthful buzz and the Artist Bakery offered some beautifully mellow coffee and a huge selection of moreish salted butter bread treats. 

There’s much to see in South Korea outside of Seoul, of course. And a three-hour trip on the bullet train takes you to the small(ish) city of Busan in the south east of the peninsular, where things feel much less Westernized. It’s a city crammed with markets and malls, selling anything and everything.  

Find a hotel overlooking the water — there’s a lot of it and the fish market offers the chance to eat pretty much anything that is found in there. Be warned though, this place might look like a budget meal awaits you, but you can easily spend in excess of $40 for some octopus and something called “spoon worm” sashimi — the latter resembling a very particular internal organ. 

Gamcheon Cultural Village. (Shutterstock)

Gamcheon Cultural Village — an assembly of narrow lanes and small pastel-colored houses on the side of a hill — provides stunning views down the valley towards the sea; another place for Insta-moments. And the Songdo cable car is worth a ride for the equally spectacular photo-ops. 

Busan also provides plenty of opportunity to sample authentic and delicious Korean street food, just don’t be put off by the aesthetics of some of the outlets.  

My final stop was Jeju Island — an hour away by plane — where I spent a few days ambling about, taking in the beautiful coastline with its jagged volcanic rocks. From the many bus tours on offer, the east and south were the highlights. The Yeha Bus Tour is particularly good, with stops including Stone Park, an ancient village, and the 600-step climb up Seongsan Sunrise Peak for some stunning panoramic views of the volcanic crater and surrounding area (followed by the slow hobble back down). 

South Korea is certainly a destination worth visiting, but with a necessary proviso: Make sure you have plenty of disposable income so you can create memories that don’t break the bank.