Seventh Letter Crew
Our wall is right across the street from THIS!
Saber and the Mayor
I’ve never been to South Korea, so I was excited to learn that that was the next international destination for the Seventh Letter Crew.
We were invited to paint at the R-16 B-boy Battle event in Suwan, just outside the capital Seoul.
As usual we were gonna roll deep: Eklips, Retna, Risky, Push, Norm, Jersey Joe, Aroe, Aloy, Dame, Ewok, Kenton Parker, Wise, Reyes, Char, Sever, and myself.
The first wall we had to tackle was corrugated metal and next to Hwasong Fortress, built in the late 1700’s. It was a beautiful spot to be painting but we had some trouble with the surface and were stuck with mostly florescent paint. Most of us spent 2 days painting there.
Finding good food in Suwan was pretty easy; there was a great Korean bbq place right across from the wall. If you like large portions and lots of red meat, South Korea is the place for you.
While we were painting by the Fortress, the B-boy crews were practicing for the battle. The day after we finished the wall they held the opening ceremony, where I presented paintings to the Mayor of Seoul and President of Korea’s tourism Board.
The following day began the individual performances from each of the crews from all over the world. Team after team, doing their routines that all had culturally specific style elements from the country they came from. The way break dancing is still developing after all these years is amazing, everybody trying to get crazier than the next person. At this rate, soon they’ll be fucking levitating.
The event was held at Suwan Stadium and the R-16 organizers set up our wall out side the doors, on the stadium grounds, where they had erected a huge outdoor viewing screen. Which was cool, we could paint and watch. The wall was definitely a little small so not all of us got up. Most people finished in one day but some still had some work to do.
The next day, back to the stadium early to finish up the wall so we can sit in the stadium this time to see the battle. The set on the stage is a recreation of that local fortress we painted near earlier, covered in our graff, a nice touch.
It was an extremely close competition. In the end one of the two South Korean teams won, to the happiness of the crowd.
One of the things that impressed me the most about this whole event was variety of people from the community it attracted, all ages and types, from 5 to 85, in business suits to punk rock outfits.
This trip was short and I spent most of my time painting. But the small tastes of South Korea that I did get to enjoy, and the welcoming people I met, make me anticipate my return. To paint more, to eat more, to see more and to meet more of the people that made this country interesting to me.
