on…Hahoe Mask Museum (하회동 탈 박물관)
Hahoe Mask Museum is just before the entrance to the UNESCO World Heritage Hahoe Village. I have never had an interest in masks, I actually find them very creepy. However, when you have to wait 45 minutes for a bus back to Andong, you may as well go in a mask museum. This museum displays the famous Hahoe masks and other masks from all over the world. despite my poor attitude, I actually enjoyed looking at the different masks and the various uses. I was both impressed and amused that someone went to the trouble of making a ‘Monk with scabies’ mask. Many of the masks were used for exorcism and funerals prior to the more conservative and Confucian Joseon dynasty.
If you are interested in the process the picture above shows the various stages of makeing an Andong or Hahoe mask. As I know absolutely nothing about masks, I have included a name for each mask based on what (or who) they remind me of.
Tony Adams Frankenstein
Confused Hindu
Mating caterpillar eyebrows
No title necessary
Bearded Mexican freakshow
Bruce Forsythe’s shipwrecked ego.
De Niro eating a grapefruit
Indonesian bulldog
Eyes Wide Shut souvenir
Gandolf in rehab.
Yoda’s creepy uncle
Rod Stewart’s homeless brother.
Zombie Neil from the Young Ones
Getting there:
From Andong Bus Terminal or Andong Station,
Take Bus 46 bound for Hahoe Village (하회마을) and get off at the museum. This museum is a bit further back from the entrance to Hahoe near the restaurants.
The Happy Wanderer 