HARMONY: Korean musicians perform at the cultural show.
Doha gets a peek into Korean culture as the two countries celebrate 40 years of bilateral relations
The Korean embassy, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with Qatar, organised a gala dinner and a cultural show earlier this week at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha. HE Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, was the chief guest.
Several dignitaries graced the event, including Hamad Rashid al-Mohannadi, CEO of RasGas, Jasim al-Jaidah, Chairman of Al Jaidah Group, and Badr Omar al-Dafa, Ambassador at Large, Project Director of Global Dry Land Alliance.
The event was also attended by representatives from various government organisations, members of the diplomatic corps as well as businesses in Qatar.
Korean Ambassador Chung Keejong, in his welcome speech, emphasised on the strong bilateral ties between Qatar and Korea, as well as the importance of cultural co-operation. This was followed by a cultural show, which involved both modern and traditional performances from three music and dance teams, who are visiting Doha. These included The Gwangdae – a group of young artists who have been presenting their unique reinterpretation of traditional Korean performing arts, Coreyah – a folk music group which consists of four Korean traditional musicians, one guitarist, and one world percussionist, as well as Morning of Owl – an internationally recognised B-boy performance team.
During these performances, the guests were also treated to a gala dinner featuring traditional Korean cuisine, specially prepared by professional chefs flown in from Korea.
A total of about 300 guests attended the two-hour long event. The aim was for the guests to see, to hear and to taste Korean culture, as well as encourage further cultural exchange. This event was held in co-operation with the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage along with the support of RasGas.
The 40th anniversary celebrations will continue with additional events till Saturday. This includes another cultural performance from the visiting music and dance teams today at the Qatar National Convention Center, as well as Korean Kite Flying event tomorrow at Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park, and Saturday, at Katara, the Cultural Village Foundation.
The event will feature huge kites of sizes 8x3m, which will be brought in to Qatar from Korea by the Korean Kite Fliers Association (KOKFA), who will then demonstrate their kite flying skills during the afternoon hours.
