Korea's cultural centers worldwide celebrate Joseon traditions, Jeju haenyeo

"Panel Folding Screen of Royal Banquet in the Imin Year," created in commemoration of King Gojong's admission into Giroso, an agency for the elderly, in 1902 [NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Cultural exhibitions of artwork featuring Joseon Dynasty dance and music, Jeju haenyeo (women divers) and hanbok (traditional Korean dress) are currently on display at Korean Cultural Centers around the world, organized by the Culture Ministry.

The exhibitions were developed according to the interests of local communities in the countries that they are held in, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in a press release Friday.

The Joseon court’s banquet culture, for instance, may resonate with the Austrian and Spanish public, whose nations also have traditions of court culture and festivals.

The Korean Cultural Centers in Austria and Spain have collaborated with Korea’s National Gugak Center to hold an exhibition centered around the “Panel Folding Screen of Royal Banquet in the Imin Year,” a historical artifact that intricately displays a banquet held in a Joseon royal court.

Titled “Joseon Dynasty Dance and Music,” the exhibition displays traditional Korean instruments and outfits worn in cultural performances as part of its showcase on royal banquets held in the late Joseon dynasty, according to the Culture Ministry.

The exhibitions, which are currently underway, will run until June 7 in Spain and through August in Austria. It will open in Belgium in the latter half of 2024.

In India, photos and videos featuring Jeju island’s haenyeo will be displayed in New Delhi's Korean Cultural Center. The exhibition will run from May to June.

Haenyeo are women divers in Jeju Island who collect a variety of sea life from the ocean, including mollusks and seaweed. Their skills were registered as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2016. The title recognized the significance of haenyeo in upholding the values of sustainable fishing, as well as contributing to a community culture based on collaboration and respect.

Meanwhile, the Korean Cultural Centers in Kazakhstan and Los Angeles have partnered with private cultural institutions to support exhibitions in Korea.

The center in Kazakhstan, in cooperation with the Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan’s foundation, will support a hanbok exhibition titled “Tree in Tree,” which will take place at the Savina Museum of Contemporary Art from May 17 to June 23.

The Los Angeles center’s partnership with the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum will reinstall a Korean crafts exhibition titled “Korean Craft: Yesterday and Today“ at the Sookmyung Women's University Museum, opening from September 7 through December 7. The exhibition has previously been held in the United States as part of the Culture Ministry’s Traveling Korean Arts project.

"The ministry will support cultural centers so that the interest in K-culture will extend to the country's traditional culture, lived culture and the Korean language," said Yong Ho-ung, deputy minister of the Culture Ministry's International Cultural Affairs and Public Relations Office.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]