| Baekje Historic Areas in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration |
By Park Ji-won
Many know of the UNESCO World Heritage List, but far fewer are aware of the value of the UNESCO-recognized sites themselves.
To showcase the power of the nation's diverse cultural assets and foster awareness of the importance of preserving them, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation last year launched the World Heritage Festival, an annual event to promote UNESCO World Heritage-designated cultural and natural assets in Korea. The festival is intended to help domestic tourists and especially foreign visitors to fully enjoy the beauty of Korean culture through cultural events, such as exhibitions, performances and tourism programs at or around the sites.
"The World Heritage Festival was launched last year to share the brilliant and universal value of Korea's UNESCO World Heritage Sites with people from all over the world. We have been through difficult times due to COVID-19, but it was worth trying in terms of spreading the cultural value and providing spaces to soothe the pandemic-hit people. The heritage sites should be preserved by us all," Kang Kyung-hwan, an official of the Cultural Heritage Administration, said during a press conference in June.
This year's event is set to be held with four themes in five different provinces.
Its first venue is set to welcome the public with the theme "Brilliant Heritage: AGAIN to Baekje," starting Aug. 13 at the Baekje Historic Areas located across Gongju and Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province and Iksan in North Jeolla Province, until Aug. 29. Local residents of the three regions will simultaneously announce the festival's opening through performances using high-end technology and drone fireworks.
The event will highlight the unique characteristics of the Baekje Kingdom, one of the three earliest kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula, showing the unique traits of the kingdom and its frequent cultural exchanges between the neighboring countries in Asia, especially in terms of construction techniques and the spread of Buddhism.
| Byeongsan Seowon in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration |
Themed "World Heritage in Andong: Future Value for Humanity," the event in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, the center of Confucian culture in the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom, will invite visitors with abundant cultural events. People can actually participate and enjoy the heritage of the Seowon, a type of Korean neo-Confucian academy. From Sept. 4 to 26, the festival will present traditional fireworks performances and poetry readings, a three-day stay involving hands-on experience at the Confucian academy, and the joint performance of a contemporary dance drama by Russia's Mariinsky Ballet and a Korean ballet company based on the legend behind the creation of Hahoe masks at Buyongdae in Hahoe Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Themed "Hwaseong Fortress: Uigwe is alive," the tradition-themed festival in Suwon will start on Sept. 18 with the fortress as the backdrop, depicting the ideals of Joseon King Jeongjo in constructing the fortress, as well as reflecting on the heritage value of the "uigwe," an official document written after an official ceremony or event, which also recorded the history of the fortress' construction. In addition to the performances, various exhibitions and hands-on experience events shedding light on the heritage sites will welcome visitors until Oct. 10.
For the last event, themed "Encounter with Jeju's Hidden Nature," the festival will give a rare chance to many to visit normally restricted areas of Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes, Korea's first UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, from Oct. 1 to 17. The festival will provide unique experiences through its original walking trail programs, giving nature lovers a chance to walk in and near lava tubes and map out future trail routes, which the organizer compared to Spain's Santiago pilgrimage route.
| A media wall displaying a design of royal wrapping cloths at the eastern concourse area of the Arrivals Hall of Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport / Courtesy of Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation |
The National Palace Museum of Korea under the administration has unveiled on March 29 a series of artworks at the eastern concourse area of the Arrivals Hall of Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport, helping people arriving at the international airport to enjoy the traditional culture of Korea and high-end art at the same time.
Eight pieces of media art were made from traditional sources at the National Palace Museum of Korea and put on display by the arrival gates and the immigration checkpoint ― three media walls, four works of kinetic art and one LED-based artwork.
The media walls are playing moving images from various traditional art forms such as royal wrapping cloths, lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl, traditional dance, Hangeul (Korean script) and natural scenery.
The four kinetic artworks are inspired by gayageum (Korean 12-stringed zither), jogakbo patchwork, traditional door frames with decorative patterns, and "chaekgado," a type of painting featuring bookshelves.