Azerbaijani culture featured at Korean festival
By Amina Nazarli
Azerbaijan joined the Gyeongju Silk Road Cultural Festival on August 21 in the Korean city of Gyeongju, which is believed to have lied along the Eastern Silk Road.
Organized in cooperation with the UN World Tourism Organization, the festival takes place in the World Cultural Park in Gyeongju, one of Korea's most ancient cultural centers, bringing together about 40 countries, including Azerbaijan.
A variety of exhibitions, performances, experiences, and images from various cultures will be presented to visitors during the festival.
Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo Ahn, addressed the opening ceremony, hailing the importance of such events in terms of bringing peoples and countries closer to one another. “Cultural exchange between the people of diverse cultures, traditions will contribute to the efforts to reveal new opportunities for cooperation among the nations,” he said.
Stressing the great need for such cultural events, Korea's Prime minister said his country would support similar initiatives in the coming years as well.
The opening ceremony featured an interesting concert program. Azerbaijan was represented with a large delegation from the State Dance Ensemble, Ensemble of Ancient Musical Instruments, along with pianists, singers, saz players, and other musicians.
Azerbaijan’s performance was arranged by the Azerbaijan Culture Foundation and SEBA (Seoul-Baku) Azerbaijan-Korean Cultural Exchange Association in partnership with the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Azerbaijani Embassy in Seoul.
Participating countries prepared national pavilions at the Great Market fair organized as part of the festival.
Azerbaijan's pavilion displayed national souvenirs, national clothes, musical instruments, handicrafts, tea sets, as well as food products, including fruit juices, various drinks, jams, and sweets. Korean visitors and participants of the festival showed great interest in Azerbaijan's national pavilion.
The festival will also feature the Day of Azerbaijan, scheduled for August 25-30, where the country's musicians and singers will perform twice a day for a week.
The relations between Azerbaijan and South Korea cover many areas, particularly politics, economics, culture, and other fields.
SEBA, which seeks to realize large-scale cultural exchange programs between Azerbaijan and Korea, was established in 2004. So far, the organization has implemented several projects in the fields of science, health, and culture.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s marvelous Gabala and Korea’s Gyeongju have become sister cities.
Earlier, the Korean Film Festival featured 10 films in Azerbaijan within ten days.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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