Korea Festival 2008: Sparkling With Culture
Introduction
For this individual field trip assignment, I chose to go to Korea Festival 2008 which took place between November 1 to 18. Organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the inaugural Korea Festival aims to strengthen the cultural ties between Singapore and Korea. This will be done through the sharing of cultural experiences of Korea with Singapore residents - in relation to the Festival theme of “Communication and Sharing”.
The Festival consist of a series of traditional and contemporary events, from fine arts to popular culture and mainstream music, guaranteed to entertain and engage a wide range of audiences.
The schedules of the related Festival events are as follows:
One of the events that got the most attention is the K-POP extravaganza featuring eminent pop-stars and budding talents from Korea in a cultural outreach campaign to youths, students and Korean Wave ("Hallyu") fans in Singapore. Organized by Korea Culture & Content Agency, the concert features 9 popular Korean artists such as the Wonder Girls, Chae Yeon, Andy (Shinhwa), Jewelry, U-Kiss and 2PM.True to the spirit of a friendship concert, tickets are not sold conventionally at regular sky-high prices. Instead, more than 5,000 tickets are given away by various sponsors and partners as part of a richer Korean experience.
Unfortunately, I only had the opportunity to visit the Korean Contemporary Art Exhibition, which is of its first kind in Singapore. Titled “Transcendence: Modernity and Beyond in Korean Art”, the exhibition examines the development of Korean art from the 1950s to the present, featuring over 40 works by 13 artists. The featured artists include Cheong Kwang Ho, Hong Kyoung Tack, Ik-Joong Kang, Lee Jung Woong and Lee Yong Deok.
The exhibition itself is divided into three sections: Origins of Korean Modernism, Mind Landscapes: Material Realities, Metaphysical Worlds and Collective Memories, Individual Realities.
