The Siberia - Territory of Peace and Harmony Festival: Korean Culture Event at INRTU
On November 9, as part of the Festival, the Korea - Close and Beautiful creative evening of Korean culture was held in the INRTU White Hall.
The first creative evening was initiated by Natalia Vlasevskaya, head of the Ethnobit ethnic percussion studio, in 2022. In 2017, she came to South Korea for a creative forum and got inspired by the country's culture. The trip resulted in new compositions in Ethnobit's repertoire and joint projects with the South Korean band YE-SIN Junior Nanta and a school band from Chunchong.
While opening the evening, Natalia Vlasevskaya said that all together there are more than 150 nationalities in the Irkutsk Region, one of which is exactly presented by ethnic Koreans. She also offered to watch the Irkutsk Region - Russia's Golden Link video specially made for the Russia exhibition-forum at VDNKh.
Mun Sam Soon, deputy head of the Korean Culture Center in Irkutsk, and Korean language female students of Irkutsk State University greeted the audience in Korean.
The Etnobit ethnic percussion studio performed compositions "We are together" and "Faster than the wind" to later give way to the Lotus samulnorists band. Samulnori drum music comes from Korean peasant music. Literally, the word "samulnori" means playing on four instruments - changu, kwenkari, gong and buka.
Irkutsk State University students prepared an engaging program. They talked about the features of Korean culture and sang a melodious song "Beautiful World". For their stage images, the students chose the traditional Korean costume hanbok.
The program included a Korean culture quiz and a master class on kimbap cooking (similar to rolls). Kimbap is a popular Korean dish based on pressed seaweed and rice. Unlike rolls, kimbap is not made with raw fish.
Moon Sam Soon (Olga Bangonovna) shared the secrets of kimbap making. She was born and raised in Russia. As deputy head of the Korean Culture Center in Irkutsk, Olga Bangonovna seeks to promote her national culture in the Irkutsk Region.
"Jointly with INRTU, we have been hosting this heartwarming event for the second year in a row. Last time special attention was paid to national costumes and cuisine, while today we focused largely on the South Korea-accepted etiquette. The audience enjoyed dynamic compositions by the drummers and beautiful Korean songs by the Irkutsk State University students. We wish to extend this project with an even more impressive program," says Olga Bangonovna.
Photo by Arseny Chekmaryov
