[내외일보 Naewoeilbo] 이수한 기자 Lee Su Han =
◆Briefing by Amb Amit Kumar on SARANG- Festival of India in Republic of Korea.
I warmly welcome you all to the Embassy for this briefing on the 9th edition of ‘SARANG – the Festival of India in Korea’, the flagship programme of the Embassy that seeks to promote people-to-people connectivity through cultural exchanges. The Festival is normally held in October-November in different parts of the Republic of Korea.
As you know, we are marking fifty years of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2023. The SARANG festival this year has, therefore, been scaled up to include new programme elements to celebrate this important milestone.
The word SARANG has a very meaningful connotation for both Koreans and Indians. SARANG in Korean means ‘love’ and for Indians it refers to ‘diversity representing different colours of India’. As a part of this festival, it is our endeavor to provide a glimpse of the rich cultural diversity of India through dance, drama, music, films and cuisine to the people of Korea, and promote understanding and friendship among the peoples of our two countries.
We have had a very intense calendar of bilateral engagements so far this year. President Yoon and PM Modi have met twice this year in Hiroshima on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in May 2023 and in New Delhi during the G20 Summit. The two leaders comprehensively reviewed our current wide-ranging relations and agreed to further deepen the Special Strategic Partnership. They in particular underlined the need to strengthen cultural exchanges and people-to-people connectivity.
Our two Foreign Ministers Park Jin and Dr. S. Jaishankar had met twice this year. The Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited RoK in May. Several RoK Ministers visited India for G20 meetings. There have been numerous other exchanges at Vice-Ministerial level, senior officials, Parliamentary level, at Provincial level, in economic and commercial domain, S&T fields, people-to-people exchanges etc. We are looking forward to the visit of the Hon'ble Speaker of the National Assembly to India for the P20 Summit.
As I mentioned, one of our key priorities for us has been to enhance people-to-people exchanges, with the firm belief that promotion of greater mutual understanding and awareness will lead to more vibrant and sustainable bilateral partnership. This effort has seen building of linkages between universities, think tanks and media on both sides, as well as promotion of Indian culture, heritage and tourism in Korea, etc.
The Indian Embassy has been able to showcase our incredibly diverse and rich cultural heritage and traditions through previous editions of SARANG that began in 2015. It has since grown in size and scale, and has gained popularity among our Korean friends. We have been able to succeed in this effort due to the support that we have received from various local partners including Government authorities and private enterprises.
The SARANG festival this year will again introduce Indian dance, music, film, cuisine and arts to our friends in Korea. Some key elements are:
a) An Indian classical dance - Bharatanatyam – troupe will perform in Seoul, Busan, Nami Island, Gurye, Gimhae and Suwon beginning this Friday for a period of 8 days. This dance troupe is led by an eminent dancer Vidyashree Radhakrishna who has enthralled audiences in India and abroad with her technical skills and passionate delivery.
In September 2023, we partnered with Nami Island Arts & Education, RoK and Seher, India to organise the “2023 Korea-India Artist Camp” comprising 10 artists from both countries. They created 20 works of art centered on the theme of “Tagore and Nature – A River”. They also jointly created a public art project in Chuncheon city. A travelling exhibition of these artworks is being organized in RoK and India.
In November 2023, we will organize the Indian Film Festival, showcasing six critically acclaimed and award winning films from different regions of India for screening in Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Suncheon and Busan. The pick of these movies would be RRR – you would recall the song ‘Natu Natu’ that won the Oscars for the best original song
The Indian Embassy and the Korean Food Promotion Institute are hosting almost a month-long exhibition on Indian Culture and Cuisine from mid-November to mid-December. This event will also feature sampling of Indian cuisine during the opening ceremony on 17 November 2023. In addition, there will be a presentation on Indian cuisine and culture, as well as an Indian food cooking demonstration session.
A cultural troupe featuring an eminent musical group from India around 10 December 2023 - the date of the 50th Anniversary. The musical troupe will feature eminent artists: Ms. Jayanthi Kumaresh, on the Saraswati Veena, and violinist Vidwan Kumaresh, who will perform Carnatic music – one of the two classical music traditions from India.
In addition, the Embassy has been involved in a number of other cultural exchange initiatives. For example, the Korea India Contemporary Artist Association, which was established in 2002, is hosting their exhibition titled Zero Mass K&I 2023 in Seoul from 17-29 October. This exhibition features more than 50 art works by Indian and Korean artists.
Similarly, the ClayArch Gimhae Museum Korea and India-Korea (INKO) Centre, Chennai are organizing a Ceramics Exhibition featuring work of 17 Indian artists curated by Kristine Michael. The exhibition will run for six months.
We also launched the “India Cultural Center” on Busan University of Foreign Studies metaverse platform in September 2023.
The Embassy hosted a special event to launch the English edition of the book titled, “Gaya Buddhism, Unlatching the Gate” by Monk Domyeong, Chief Monk of Gimhae’s YeoYeo Jung Temple. The book provides a scholarly account of the travel of Buddhism from India to Korea through the maritime route along with Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya, who arrived in Korea in 48 A.D. Princess Suriratna married King Kim-Suro of the Gaya Kingdom and became Queen Heo hwang-ok.
I also wish to acknowledge the tremendous support that we have received from various local partners without which it would not have been possible to organize these various activities.
Our partners include Gimhae City Cultural Foundation, Nami Island Art and Education Inc, Korean Film Archives, Busan Cinema Center, Korea Food Promotion Institute, Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, local Governments in Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Suncheon and Yangsan. We have also received sponsorship from several corporate partners with interests in India.
Before I conclude my remarks, I wanted to also highlight that we are not only introducing facets of Indian culture to our friends in Korea but also trying to incorporate elements so as to make this experience more interactive. In that context, we are therefore also organizing workshops and presentations as well as interactions with some of the participating artists.
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