Cote d'Ivoire sprinkles culture in Yeongwol

By Kim Se-jeong

Last weekend, Ivoirian dance, arts and craft entertained crowds of campers on the banks of the Namhan River in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province.

The African Museum of Yeongwol on Saturday hosted Ivoirian dance troupes who presented a series of performances. An Ivoirian artisan also demonstrated a traditional doll-making. The stage outside the museum was for a fashion show where Ivoirians and Koreans showcased West African textiles and clothing.

“This is a way to present Ivorian culture and art,” said Ivoirian Ambassador to Korea Sylvestre Kouassi Bile, who attended the one-day program.

Kouassi Bile thanked Director of the museum Cho Myung-haing, a former Korean diplomat, for support in raising awareness of African art in Korea.

“Thanks to friends of Africa such as Cho, African art is gaining recognition among the Korean people. When I was here back in 1997 and 2005, African art was nonexistent,” the ambassador said. He was the first Ivorian diplomat to reside in Korea, when the embassy of Cote d’ivoire opened in Seoul in 1977.

Cho only had one posting in Nigeria, but collecting African arts and crafts was his life-long passion, and in 2009, after retirement, he founded the museum.

The facade resembling zebra skin was the result of years of work with the ambassador’s close involvement.

The Saturday program was possible with the help of Seoul-resident Ivoirian nationals. They put together a dancing and singing performance for the occasion. The artisan who made dolls is a seven-year resident of Korea.

Called the Ivory Coast in English, Cote d’ivoire is abundant in cocoa and was formerly a French colony that gained independence in 1960.

It established formal diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1961.