This shop just might have the arthouse book of your dreams

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This shop just might have the arthouse book of your dreams

There are many places in Seoul to purchase novels by Agatha Christie or Stephen King. Where, however, can pictures of the marvelous edifices by Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi or photos by the contemporary artist Helmut Newton be found? The answer: Art N Dream, a Sinsa-dong shop stocked with more than 8,000 books and magazines on architecture, photography, design and fashion.
“Some people go abroad to buy these books or find them on Internet sites based in foreign countries,” says Art N Dream’s manager, An Neong-soo. “In Korea, the supply of these kinds of books has not kept up with demand.”
Art N Dream has partnerships with overseas arthouse publishers, like Taschen and Schirmer/Mosel in Germany, from which it imports books directly.
“We take great pride in our photography section,” Mr. An says. “I am quite positive it is the best in the country.”
One especially hard-to-find book Art N Dream carries is “Araki,” published by Taschen. Priced at just over 2 million won ($2,373), Mr. An says Art N Dream is the only place you could buy a copy of the book in Korea. Only 2,500 copies are in circulation worldwide, and each is numbered and signed by Araki, the Japanese photographer who is the subject of the book.
Art professors and students frequent Art N Dream. The store is also popular with professional designers, architects and art lovers looking for works that they have been unable to find elsewhere in Korea. If you are looking for an art-related book, but have not had any luck at other Seoul book shops, try Art N Dream.
“We try to find any book that a customer wants, even if it takes some time,” Mr. An says.


Art N Dream
Hours: 9:30 am-10 pm
Location: 536-9, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam
Tel: 02) 512-8909


by Kim Hae-young
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