Korean culture highlighted in Europe

Last month, one of Bulgaria’s largest culture festivals, the Salon des Arts which took place from April 12 to 26, drew attention to Korea’s culture through exhibitions, performances, and a film festival.

[hanok, pivot around which Korean’s life turned]

A photo exhibition by Korean photographer Lee Dong-chun highlighted the traditional Korean house known as the Hanok and Korean food. Lee, who has been traveling nationwide collecting images of Hanok, focused only on Andong, a well-known region for Confucianism this time. Before the opening, Lee was reported saying as “I wanted to showcase Korea’s Hanok, which have kept alive for 2,000 years with symbols of ‘morality’ and ‘decency,’ the values highly appreciated by scholars of the Joseon Dynasty.”

Some other cultural events coincided with the photo exhibition during the festival to enthrall local Hallyu fans. On April 17, Korean cellist Angela Jinyeong Park, active in Germany, collaborated with a local pianist to perform several masterpieces by composers including Beethoven as well as contemporary Korean pieces written by composer I-sang Yun.

Also on April 23, a Korean film festival was held inside the palace, screening independent film Oneul (Today). Bulgarian audiences at the festival were reportedly happy for a rare chance to experience Korean culture.

[Music that represents the past 5,000 years of history]

In Spain, the Korean singing duo Su:m performed gukak (classical Korean music) on April 27. Scheduled to go on a concert tour of Europe, Su:m began their first performance in the culture center of the Cibeles Palace in Madrid. They plan to visit Hungary and Turkey soon.

Gugak duo Su:m began their Europe tour in Spain in April 27, with plans to visit Hungary and Turkey next (photo: Korean Culture Center in Spain).

The duo, both alumni of Korea National University of Arts, performed their self-produced songs. “The performance by Su:m gave audiences a chance to explore Korea’s contemporary music, as expressed in art and as experienced in daily life by themselves,” said someone at the Korean Culture Center in Spain.

In order to highlight their intention to express Korean’s unique emotions through performance recalling the past 5,000 years of Korea’s dynamic history, they made use of unusual Korean instruments such as saenghwang, jeongju, and anggeum, which inspired interest from locals.