Institute Showcases Top Korean Talents in Paris
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Image-making is not limited to individuals or brands, but countries as well. Non-profit organization Corea Image Communications Institute (CICI) took their Korea image-making efforts to Paris, Tuesday, to showcase the best of Korea's arts and culture scene.
Founded in 2003 under the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, CICI brings together opinion leaders from all pillars of Korean society to develop ways to accurately portray Korea to the international community.
The event in Paris aims to facilitate a better understanding about Korea in Europe, where Korean cultural awareness is relatively low, according to CICI. The institute invited some 300 leading figures from France's political, business, cultural and academic fields as well as members of the press and international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Highlights of the event included pianist Kim Sun-wook's first performance in Paris. Last year, the 19-year-old became the first Asian and the world's youngest winner of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. Just having swept British crowds this weekend with his London debut as soloist for the London Philharmonic, Kim maps out a bright future for Korean ― and global ― classical music.
The tempo picked up as the mega-hit martial arts comedy ``Jump!'' took the stage. The non-verbal performance presents a combination of taekwondo and other Korean martial arts. Earning rave reviews and enjoyed by celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, ``Jump!'' is currently running open-ended Off Broadway. It was also the top box-office draw at the Edinburgh Festival for two years from 2005.
The night provided an audiovisual portrait of ``the land of morning calm,'' and presented hangeul, the Korean alphabet and short films featuring symbols from the Goguryeo Kingdom ( 37 B.C.-A.D. 668) by artist Jung Byung-rae. Yet, today, as CNN said, ``Dynamic Korea'' stands as the ``the world's most wired ― and wireless ― country,'' and so most appropriately, a film titled ``Korea's IT'' was shown.
With the month-long French cultural festival France Express just having wrapped up in Seoul, CICI's efforts to enhance awareness about Korea in Paris strengthens bilateral cultural understanding to draw two physically distant countries closer together.