The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Sept. 1 said it will hold cultural exchange events with Canada such as exhibitions, concerts and performances to mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations.
From Sept. 5-29, the ministry will hold the exhibition "Barrier Free" to stimulate bilateral exchanges between disabled artists at the Korean Cultural Center in Ottawa, Canada, in cooperation with National accessArts Centre.
The event seeks to encourage visitors to listen to the voices of marginalized people and share future values, featuring 12 artists with developmental disabilities including Kim Hyun-woo, aka Pixel Kim, and Brian Ehnis.
Performances next month by pianist Cho Seong-jin and the National Dance Company of Korea (NDCK) will be held at Canada's National Arts Centre (NAC).
Cho on Oct. 1 will play pieces by Haydn, Ravel and Schumann at a solo concert hosted by the NAC Orchestra. The NDCK on Oct. 10 will present at the NAC "Mukhyang," a work featuring traditional dance and music expressing the spirit of a seonbi (neo-Confucian scholar) of the Joseon Dynasty.
Musical exchange projects are also scheduled.
Three Canadian jazz groups from Oct. 7 will perform in Korea at the Jarasum Jazz Festival on Jaraseom Island in Gapyeong-gun County, Gyeonggi-do Province. In Canada, creative gugak (traditional music) and jazz performances will run from mid-October to November in the township of Orford in the province of Quebec, Montreal and Toronto.
"We are pleased to announce that the 2024-25 Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchange will be pursued next year thanks to an agreement by the two countries' leaders," Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon said. "We will provide structured support to more actively press ahead with bilateral exchanges in culture and arts."
