Held at Velas Conference Center, Angola, 6 PM on the 28th (local time)
Busan Municipal Art Troupe's First African Performance Project Featuring Korean Music and Traditional Dance
Meeting with High-Level Angolan Officials to Discuss Exchange
On October 28 at 6 p.m. local time, the Busan Metropolitan City held a Korean traditional performance (gugak and dance) by the Busan Municipal Art Troupe at the Belas Conference Center in Luanda Province, Angola.
This is the first time that Busan has planned and held a large-scale performance by the Busan Municipal Art Troupe in Africa.
This performance was specially planned as a follow-up measure after Mayor Park Hyung-jun visited Angola last March and discussed continuous exchange plans with high-ranking local officials, including Angola’s President Jo?o Manuel Gon?alves Louren?o. It also commemorates the sisterhood agreement signed with Luanda Province in May.
In March, Mayor Park Hyung-jun visited Angola as a special presidential envoy, meeting with President Jo?o Manuel Gon?alves Louren?o, Foreign Minister Tete Ant?nio, and signing a “Sisterhood Agreement” with Manuel Gomes da Concei??o Homem, Governor of Luanda Province.
The sisterhood agreement between Busan and Luanda Province was signed in May when Manuel Gomes da Concei??o Homem, Governor of Luanda Province, visited Busan.
Angola is a major oil-producing country located in southwestern Africa, with abundant natural resources such as diamonds, iron ore, and gas, and has experienced rapid economic growth.
Angola’s land area is more than twelve times that of the Republic of Korea, and with its rich underground resources, it is a country with high potential for national development. It has recently been experiencing rapid economic growth.
Recently, the Korean Wave has also swept Angola, and K-Pop enjoys considerable popularity. Busan planned this performance to promote the beauty of Korea through traditional Korean music (gugak) and dance.
For this visit to Luanda Province, the city formed a delegation led by Park Kyung-eun, Special Political Advisor to the Mayor of Busan. Through this, they not only held the Busan Municipal Art Troupe performance but also met with high-ranking officials from various Angolan ministries and Luanda Province to promote concrete future exchange and cooperation between Busan and Angola (Luanda Province).
On this day, the Busan Municipal Art Troupe showcased beautiful Korean traditional arts on the African continent through a dispatched performance team composed of a gugak orchestra and dance troupe. The program consisted of gugak orchestral music and traditional dance.
This performance is part of the Busan Municipal Art Troupe’s series of performances in sister and friendly cooperation cities. Following the successful performance by the Busan Municipal Dance Troupe in Panama City, Panama, in July, this was the second performance held on the African continent, in Luanda Province, Angola.
The main program included Seoljanggu ensemble, Salpuri (vocal Sinawi), a chamber piece for 25-string gayageum and African percussion instruments, Jindo drum dance, African music played with Korean traditional instruments, and a finale, showcasing a special collaboration between Korean and African cultures.
Additionally, Choi Eun-hee, a young artist from Busan, made a talent donation by creating a media art piece titled 'Transition' series, which visually expressed a surreal combination of paint and plants to celebrate the sisterhood between Busan and Luanda Province and the municipal art troupe’s performance. This artwork was projected as the background on the performance stage in harmony with the gugak orchestra’s melodies.
This performance is expected to elevate the status of Busan as an “art and culture city” by introducing refined Korean music and traditional dance to the African continent and promoting Korean traditional culture there.
The audience included about 2,500 people, among them over 100 high-ranking officials such as the Governor of Luanda Province, ministers and vice ministers from Angola’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and resident diplomats.
After the performance, Park Kyung-eun, Special Political Advisor, Choi Kwang-jin, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Angola, and the Governor of Luanda Province held a press conference for the local media in Luanda.
Moreover, the Busan delegation discussed ways to enhance exchange and cooperation in fields such as economy, culture, arts, information and communication technology (ICT), health, education, transportation, and energy with key high-ranking officials from Angola and Luanda Province.
Through the “Busan Initiative,” they also shared Korea’s growth experience and presented a vision to seek solutions for various global issues such as digital divide, climate change, food problems, and talent development. They actively requested Angola’s support to help realize the “2030 Busan World Expo” at the final vote of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) General Assembly on November 28 in Paris.
Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “Over the past two years, through the 2030 World Expo bid activities, we have actively expanded exchanges even with regions like Africa, where exchanges had been scarce. As a result, we have contributed not only to the bid and promotion of the 2030 World Expo but also to promoting the city brand ‘Busan’ and building the foundation infrastructure to become a ‘global hub city’ through strengthening urban diplomacy capabilities.” He emphasized, “The dispatch of this performance troupe is a message of friendship from Busan to African countries with which it established sisterhood relations with three cities this year. I believe it sublimated the harmony of our traditional culture and African culture through art.” He added, “Starting with performances in Panama and Angola this year, we plan to continue exchanges next year focusing on sister and friendly cooperation cities and exchange cities in various fields such as culture, economy, and maritime affairs.”
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