Glass Island Museum

Glass Island is a glass-art museum and cultural complex at the western edge of Daebudo, Ansan, looking out over tidal flats and West Sea sunsets. Billed as "Korea's Murano", its site of about 43,000 m² brings together a gallery of contemporary glass sculpture, a studio where glass artists work, and an outdoor sculpture park. The highlight is the glass-blowing demonstration, where you watch glass heated past 1,200°C being shaped, seated as if in a theatre.

Glass-blowing up close

Glass Island has a theatre-style demonstration hall of about 500 m² that seats 200 people at once. Artists gather glass heated above 1,200°C on the end of a long blowpipe, then blow, turn and cut it into a finished piece, and the whole process is presented like a performance. Screens and a sound system mean you can follow the handwork even from the back row. Demonstrations are included for every visitor and run three times a day.

Galleries and hands-on classes

• Glass Island Gallery: contemporary glass and mixed-media works by Korean and international glass artists, with displays on glass techniques and materials.
• Macart Gallery: a contemporary art space for painting, sculpture, installation and video, with at least four curated exhibitions a year.
• Glass workshop: try lampworking (melting glass rods in a torch flame to make accessories), glass blowing, sandblasting a pattern onto a glass, or glass painting. Lampworking is one-to-one with an artist and takes about 10–15 minutes per person.
• Outdoor sculpture park: sculptures set along a seaside path and a reed garden.
• BODA art shop: handmade pieces by Korean glass artists.

Making a day of Daebudo

Daebudo is linked to the mainland by the Sihwa Seawall, so you can drive straight on. Glass Island is on the island's west coast, and by the time you finish you can watch the sun go down over the mudflats. Add Daebudo's clam knife-cut noodle restaurants, the island's vineyards, or Tando Port and Nuedo islet at the southern tip for a full day out.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday 09:30–18:00 (tickets until 16:30). Closed on Mondays; when Monday is a public holiday it opens and closes on the next weekday instead.
• Demonstrations: Tuesday–Sunday at 11:30, 14:30 and 16:30, 30 minutes each. Times can change on the day, so check at the ticket office and plan around them.
• Fees: admission and workshop fees are charged separately, with discounts for groups, seniors and visitors with disabilities. Check prices on the official website.
• Time needed: 90 minutes for the demonstration and galleries; about 2.5 hours with a workshop.
• Getting there: from Ansan Station (Line 4) take bus 123 to Daebu-dong Community Centre, then change at Sangdong stop to bus 727-1; or from Oido Station (Line 4) take bus 790 to Daebu-dong Community Centre and change to 727-1, getting off at "Yuriseom". By car it is about an hour from Gangnam in Seoul.