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By Do Je-hae
The "Prague Days in Seoul" will take place Oct. 20-23 with various cultural events organized by Seoul and Prague, as the reciprocal event of the successful staging of "Days of Seoul in Prague" in September 2009.
It is the biggest event promoting the Czech Republic in Korea since the establishment of diplomatic relations 21 years ago.
Events will take place at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts, Seoul Museum of History, Jeong Dong Gallery and the Czech Info Center. They are all free.
On the occasion of Prague Days in Seoul, a special program book in Korean has been published, which can be downloaded from www.mzv.cz/seoul/en.
The highlight is a film festival devoted to Jan Hrebejk, who was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
His highly acclaimed works, including "Cosy Dens," "Beauty in Trouble," "Divided We Fall" and "Maharal" will be shown at the Seoul Arts Center.
A photo exhibition entitled "Prague Panoramic," tracing the transformation of the Czech Republic capital through the years, is underway until Nov. 20 at the Seoul Museum of History.
"The Best of Prague Graphic Arts" is taking place at the Jeong Dong Gallery.
The Image Black Light Theatre, a Czech creation of the 1960s, will take place today at the Sejong Arts Center.
"Black Light Theater," or simply Black Theater, is a theatrical performance style characterized by the use of black box theater augmented by black light illusion.
The distinctive characteristics of "black theater" are the use of black curtains, a darkened stage, and "black lighting" (UV light), paired with fluorescent costumes in order to create intricate visual illusions.
The Prague Philharmonia, one of the foremost orchestras from the Czech Republic, will play two concerts on Oct. 22 and 23 to celebrate the 21st anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and the Central European country. They will play works by Rossini, Beethoven, Dvorak and Mozart during the two-day Korean tour, which marks its Asian debut.
The Virtuosi di Praga will play masterpieces of Czech chamber music at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts and Seoul Museum of History Oct. 20-21.
The Czech embassy website also has more information on the month-long "Czech Points in Seoul festival," which has been underway since the end of September. The Korea Times is a media partner of the special program featuring more than 20 different events in 15 places around the capital.
The festival is being organized and coordinated by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Korea in cooperation with numerous Czech and Korean institutions.
The "Days of Seoul" festival in Prague, held from Sept. 15-18, 2009, was the biggest promotion of Korea in the Czech capital as yet. While more than 70,000 Korean tourists visit Prague every year, only a small number of Czechs has Seoul thus far.
Presentation of Korean traditional and modern music and dance, film screenings, taekwondo presentations as well as exhibitions promoting Korean culture and animation were part of the program.
