The 1st Korea Season Opens in Mexico
Date May 06, 2022
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister HWANG Hee, MCST) together with the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (President JUNG Kilhwa, KOFICE) opened the first “Korea Season” in Mexico.
“Korea Season” is a project that Korea continues its mutual cultural exchanges with a counterpart country to create a solid foundation for sustainable exchanges and expand opportunities for Korean artists to advance in other countries. Marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and major Latin American countries, including Mexico and Argentina, and invited as the honor of guest in Cervantino (Festival Internacional Cervantino – Mexican Festival), Mexico was selected as the first nation to hold the “Korea Season”.
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Korea and Mexico this year, Mexico introduced and promoted Korean culture, artists, and works in diverse fields in Mexico. On the other hand, to promote Mexican culture in Korea, a special exhibition on “Azteca – People who moved the Sun” opened at the National Museum of Korea on May 3. Such a series of cultural exchanges between the two countries will enrich the opportunities to feel the cultural connection between the two countries.
To introduce more detail about the cultural events prepared, the “Korea-Mexico 60th Anniversary Concert” at the Metropolitan Theater on May 3 (Thur) initiated the grand opening of the events. In this opening ceremony, there was performances from SEO Euichul music group performing on traditional music, followed by a concert by musicians from both countries, including Korean traditional musical instrument (Haegeum[1], Gayageum[2], Saenghwang[3]) and traditional instruments of the Aztec civilization, following by the Latin pop band Camila’s performance. The performance of “Samuel Farah” continues and K-pop singer BAEK Ji-young decorates the end of the stage. The opening performance was live broadcasted via the official YouTube channel of the Korean Cultural Center in Mexico for online viewers in the world.
In addition, in order to establish a foundation for sustainable cultural exchange between the two countries, the future exchange continuation project will be promoted from May to support the joint creation and production of students and young artists from both countries. The project will be receiving applications for participants in the following three fields: performance, visual art, and academic research. Those which are selected for the projects will be shown on site during the Festival Internacional Cervantino in October.
[1] Haegeum is a traditional Korean string instrument, resembling a vertical fiddle with two strings. This instrument is one of the most widely used instruments in Korean music.
[2] Gayageum is a traditional Korean plucked zither with 12 strings, and it is probably the best well-known Korean traditional musical instrument.
[3] Saenghwang is a Korean wind instrument, constructed from 17 bamboo pipes.