November 2023

The 2023 Korean Cultural Festival in Hungary

The Korean Cultural Center in Hungary held the 2023 Korean Cultural Festival this past Sept from 8 to 30. The theme of the festival was gugak from jeongak (a classical form of traditional Korean music) to folk music. The festival introduced traditional Korean arts and culture from the beginning to the present.

Various programs were held during the 2023 Korean Cultural Festival including a symposium on gugak and a performance of the Jongmyo Jeryeak (royal ancestral ritual and music at the Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul). Visitors also had the opportunity to experience traditional Korean instruments.

The symposium on gugak between Hungary and Korea was divided into three parts and held at the Hungarian Heritage House. Part One, ¡°Traditional Hungarian Music,¡± was performed by Professor Árpád Tóth of the Liszt Academy Kodály Institute, Professor Konkoly Csenge of the folk music department at the Liszt Academy and the Hungarian folk ensemble Magyarhang Zenekar. Part Two, ¡°Traditional Korean Music,¡± was performed by Kim, Gabsoo, head of the performance division of the Jindo National Gugak Center, and Part Three, ¡°Chronicles of World Music: The People and Traditional Korean Music,¡± was directed by Kye Myung kook, the director of the Jarasum Jazz Festival.

Parts One and Two highlighted the similarities and differences while showcasing traditional music from Korea and Hungary. Part Three presented gugak with a unique feel in collaboration with modern genres such as world music. The symposium included coverage and interviews conducted not only by the audience but also by the local broadcasting company HTV, showcasing the increased interest in Korean culture.

The Jongmyo Jeryeak, ritual music with instruments and dancing performed at the Jongmyo Shrine

Sounds of Korea Resonates in Hungary

The Jongmyo Jeryeak, ritual music with instruments and dancing performed at the Jongmyo Shrine, resonated in Hungary in the 21st century. The Korean Cultural Center in Hungary and the National Gugak Center presented the performance of the Jongmyo Jeryeak for the first time to local audiences at the Erkel Theatre in Hungary on Sept. 21.

The 2,000 people in attendance included local people as well as experts in arts and culture such as the director of the House of Music Hungary and the rector of the Hungarian Dance University. Key Hungarian government officials who will add strength to the cultural exchange between the two countries were also in attendance such as the chief justice of Hungary, the chief justice of the Constitutional Court of Hungary and deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.

The audience watched the performance with interest. It began with a greeting from the head musician who supervised the entire Jongmyo Jeryeak. The audience held their breath when they heard the mysterious sounds of the unfamiliar traditional Korean instruments such as the pyeongyeong made from a set of stones that chime and the pyeongjong made from large and small bells. They responded with so much enthusiasm that the curtain call after the performance lasted 10 minutes.

A Chance to Learn Traditional Korean Instruments

An event was also held at the 2023 Korean Cultural Festival in which people could actually experience gugak in person rather than just listen or watch.
People requested special training from the participants of the 2022 Invitation Program for Overseas Koreans and Gugak Groups held by the Jindo National Gugak Center on pangut (folk music performance) and sogochum (small drum dance) at the 2023 Korean Cultural Festival.

It was an opportunity to learn about traditional Korean instruments in Hungary directly from the teachers of the Jindo National Gugak Center. Participants had the chance to make even more memories by learning the spinning of a sangmo, which is a hat adorned with feathers and paper streamers.

The festival also offered a ¡°One Day Class¡± that was divided into three parts: daegeum (large bamboo transverse flute) and danso (vertical bamboo flute), haegeum (traditional string instrument), minyo (folk songs) and pansori (traditional lyrical opera). Over 200 people participated in the event and were fascinated by the sounds of the exotic instruments.

The teachers and interpreters were surprised to hear people ask serious questions about the pentatonic scale composition as it differs from Western music and see their interest in the unique playing methods of traditional Korean instruments.

The Korean Cultural Center in Hungary held an MOU signing ceremony with the Jindo National Gugak Center in honor of the 2023 Korean Cultural Festival. The centers plan to continue their exchanges and cooperation to promote and spread traditional Korean culture, especially the music. Gugak has expanded from the sounds of Korea to the sounds of the world.

The Jongmyo Jeryeak, ritual music with instruments and dancing performed at the Jongmyo Shrine