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Korea Foundation to host cultural project to offer glimpse of Persian New Year
By Yi Whan-woo
A spring festival to raise awareness of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will begin in Seoul on March 20.
Hosted by the Korea Foundation (KF), "Nowruz in Seoul" will feature an exhibition, performances, film screenings, a street fair and other cultural activities. It will run through April 27.
The festival is part of the "2019 KF Global Bridge I" project aimed at promoting the culture and history of certain countries in cooperation with their embassies in Seoul.
The free festival is named after the Persian New Year celebrated in all five Central Asia nations.
KF, a nonprofit organization that has been promoting public diplomacy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the festival would "serve as a special opportunity" for visitors to experience the Central Asian countries' "lively energy and dynamicity-in-stillness."
The festival will begin on March 20 with the exhibition, titled, "Nowruz: Spring in Central Asia," at the KF Gallery.
The opening day commemorates the 10th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly's proclamation of International Nowruz Day on March 21, 2010.
The exhibition will explore the costumes, jewels, food, housing, culture and intangible assets of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Among the items to be showcased are a yurt — a portable, round tent covered with skins or felt and used as a dwelling by nomads on the steppes of Central Asia — and craftworks including pottery and carpets.
The exhibition will run concurrently with three special lectures per week, a children's book-reading session, kite and yurt-making classes, folk performances, mini-fashion shows and films.
A street fair will be held at Cheonggye Plaza on April 27 to give visitors first-hand experience of the games and culinary cultures of the Central Asia countries.
Nowruz begins with the advent of spring, and millions of people who celebrate it worldwide observe it by doing a deep clean of their homes, celebrating a season of new life, and wishing for good luck in the year ahead.
Nowruz occurs on the day of the vernal equinox, which usually falls between March 19 to 21.
In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization listed Nowruz as Intangible Cultural Heritage.
"KF Global Bridge"program has introduced art and culture of various groups of countries, such as Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru).
For more information, visit KF website kf.or.kr.
