A delight-ful experience! In February earlier this year, along with my best friend and her son, we paid a visit to the Delight exhibition.

The exhibition takes you on a journey by its use of art, and sensory lighting to explore the history of Seoul through its life and identity, bringing together the past and present.

The exhibition is located in Borough Yards, which was pretty easy to find using google navigation. We got off at London Bridge and walked a hop skip and a jump to the location.

Once inside, we were greeted by friendly staff at the start. They told us if we downloaded the ‘Delight exhibition app’ and scanned all the symbols in each room,  we would be awarded a prize.

Soon as we logged in to the wifi and downloaded the app, we were ready!  The app also gives you an overview of each of the rooms; and the meaning behind it. It is very likely that you will just use the app to find Korean alphabet symbols to scan and collect all 15 stamps to get the prize . You are not likely to immerse yourself in the history of the rooms at that moment as you will too caught up in experiencing the visuals.  

Room Persona Between I and We (1)

The first room was a cacophony of voices. Multiple TV screens are shown of individuals talking about their experiences of living in Seoul. Each talk about an aspect of their lives, whether it’s attending a class on making clothing’s for dogs, or getting lost in a magical garden to how they feel about living in a vibrant city.

 I have visited Seoul a few times and despite living in London, always felt it was a faster paced city. Seoul is definitely busier with regards to population.

Room 631 (2)

 The second room was filled with coloured changing lanterns and mirrors to make the space feel never ending. We were greeted by the sounds of wind chimes  and it felt quite atmospheric.  I was too busy taking selfies attempting to look like a smurf. Later when I consulted the app and the intention behind this display; the room very much represents the historic transition from Joseon dynasty to modern day Seoul.

Room Shinro (3)

Jongmyo is an royal ancestral shrine located in Seoul. It is a place away from the hustle and bustle and modern-day complications of the city. It is a place to reflect and meditate. Seoul the city is written in different languages. I was able to spot the Devanagari script – Hindi – which is my mother tongue.

Room Poetry vanishes (4)

I did not on realise that this was celebrating Korea’s much loved poets Yoon Dong-ju and Kim So-wol. I did like love the rain on the window effect as it always evokes a certain reflective mood.

Room: Mind Myth (5)

I loved the visuals in this room and did not realise later that it was representing the twelve zodiac animals. The room here draws from all cultural boundaries, encompassing Greek mythology, including Korean legends where deities and the divine represent human and animal form.

Room: Collage Gwanghwa (6)

This was one my favourite rooms as it bought together that vibrant city life Seoul is know for. All the neon signs of various shops brough together in one visual scape.

Room Resonance (7)

This room reminded me of the matrix! But here in the vertical flow; you can see the various letters in hangul spelling places like; Seoul or Gangam.

Room Goblins (8)

This room focusses on the mythology and legends. Goblins or ‘Dokkaebi’ are legendary creatures from Korean mythology and folklore. They possess extraordinary powers and abilities that they use to interact with humans. Sometimes they play tricks on them, other times they help them.

In the adjacent room, there are artistic impressions of an actual gate that existed in Seoul. ‘Seodaemun’ It was one of the eight gates in Seoul that served as an opening to a fortress wall that surrounded the city during Joseon. (1392 – 1897)

Room Urban pulse (9)

This was my second favourite room with all the signs and of the cities in Korea blending into each other. Places are constantly changing and shifting , like in any modern city and this constant change is appears to be represented in these moving neon signs.

My godson was very much inspired to dance to keep up with the changing and moving signs!

Room: The Moon (10)

The image was surrounded by water and it was very peaceful and quiet. The moon here represents many things of Korea; like the moon jar – which was produced during the Joseon era is a cermaic jar celebrated for its unique form that is rounder than other jars. The fact that the lunar calendar is used to celebrate most important holidays. It is also a nod to the Korean video art pioneer – Nam June Paik ‘Moon is the oldest TV’

Room: Neon Nostalgia (11)

Here you can see various signs that make up the city in one location.

Room The Path of Humanity (12)

I did not take a picture of this – but it was a white corridor with pictures of the Korean Palace. Here together with mirrors, the idea behind is this is to understanding our evolving indentities.

There is also.a picture of the Emilie Bell. This is the Bell of the King Seongdeok which is the largest of its kind in Korea. The sound that is emitted once in this location is the sound of the bell that has been handcrafted over 1,200 years ago.

The gift shop

Soon after the last room (12) – you enter the gift shop. Here is when you show if you have have collected all your stamps located around the various rooms.

The purchases

You get to choose amongst a variety of postcards. Together, my godson and I chose the one below which was unusual. I also ended up getting a notebook; which I thought was pretty cool and a Delight pen!

All in all; it was a very cool, illumunating experience. Although my only feedback would be that that whole experience was a little too short. Also it was not so easy at times to capture the images on the app due to lower level lighting. But all in all a fun experience for the family. I would familiarise yourself with the app before you get there otherwise some of the historic nature and the meaning can get lost on you as you may be too busy experiencing the visual delights and effects.