Although the distance between Warsaw and Seoul is nearly 8 thousand kilometres, it is culture that will connect us in 2024! To celebrate the 35th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and the Republic of Korea, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute is honoured to invite you to participate in the Polish cultural programme in South Korea. Polish artists will present diverse projects from such areas as film, music or visual arts. See you soon!
35 years of Polish-Korean diplomatic relations
In 2024 Poland and the Republic of Korea celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This anniversary is an opportunity to present a broad range of Polish artists from such fields of art as classical music, jazz, folk, visual arts, film and animation. Groups and individual artists will appear at the most important festivals owing to the collaboration with the largest institutions and museums in Korea. The list of events has been created in close cooperation with both long-time and new partners of the Institute.
The Polish cultural programme is scheduled to take place between August 2024 and January 2025. The most important events planned include the premiere display of an exhibition in the Polish Pavilion at Gwangju Biennale and the first ever overview of Polish animation and video art in Korea. Information about the events, interviews with artists, curatorial descriptions and many more will be published at Culture.pl in Polish, English and Korean.
This year's programme of events is a continuation of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute's activities on the Korean Peninsula, which began in 2009. During this period, we have established cooperation with over forty partners from all fields of art and culture. These range from renowned festivals such as the Seoul International Music Festival to excellent concert halls and museums such as the National Museum of Korea. We hear from our Korean partners how the richness and diversity of Polish culture intrigues and delights Korean audience. With our programme, we offer them yet another new artistic experience – emphasises Olga Wysocka, director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
The Polish cultural programme in the Republic of Korea marking the 35th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations
Jeonju International Sori Festival: 14-18 August 2024
This year’s culture programme will begin in mid-August in Jeonju at the International Sori Festival. This musical festival has been presenting traditional music from different parts of the world for over 20 years now. It is distinctive for its audience – it attracts persons of every age and the programme also includes workshops for children.
Polish roots music will be represented at the festival by Małe Instrumenty, Vołosi and Piotr Damasiewicz – Into the Roots with Highlanders. The artists will present their most interesting projects, which emerged at the intersection of different musical genres, before the Korean audience and will invite participants to become familiar with and create various instruments, sound toys and original musical inventions.
Gwangju Biennale: 6 September – 1 December 2024
A city in the south-western part of the Republic of Korea will host one of the most important cultural events of this year’s culture programme of AMI. The Gwangju Biennale, organised since 1995, is the oldest contemporary art biennale in Asia and enjoys excellent reputation. Nicolas Bourriaud is the artistic director of the 15th edition of the event, the theme of which is “Pansori – a soundscape of the 21st century.” 30 exhibitions will be presented in national pavilions in 2024. The partners of the Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale are Centrum Sztuki WRO, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Seoul, Leeleenam Studio, the City of Wrocław and Paju Typography Institute.
On 5 September 2024 the first ever exhibition will be opened in the Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale, organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (a several-days-long performative programme was presented last year). A curator of new media art – Paweł Janicki from Centrum Sztuki WRO – has been invited to cooperate on the organisation of this exhibition. Katastematic Pleasures will present the works of Polish artists (Paweł Jasielski, IP Studio, Alicja Klich, Maciej Markowski) and one Ukrainian artist (Madina Mahomedova) in the spaces of the Leeleenam Studio in Gwangju. As part of this project, the media art will become a space for expressing emotions and shared being, a place for dialogue between different cultures, where images of the past will intertwine with the experiences of now and visions of the world to come.
In turn, from 7 September, an installation titled Dream House by Agata Ingarden will be presented in the main exhibition of the 15th edition of the Gwangju Biennale. The Polish artist has been invited to participate in the Biennale by the artistic director Nicolas Bourriaud. Ingarden – a sculptor and author of installations and films – creates objects linking industrial materials with natural raw materials such as wood, sugar, oyster shells or beeswax. In the Dream House project, she will explore the life and history of five persons, their experiences, dreams and expectations around which she will unfold a world of multimedia sculptures and sound installations.
Polish Film Festival in Seoul: 25 September – 6 October 2024
We are approaching the 6th edition of the Polish Film Festival, organised in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Seoul and Cinematheque Seoul Art Cinema. Since 2019 this event has been an opportunity to present to the Korean viewers the richness of the Polish cinematography and to invite them to become familiar with the works of the most prominent Polish directors.
The topic of this year’s event will be the movies by Polish female directors. Films by Agnieszka Holland, Jagoda Szelc, Małgorzata Szumowska and Anna Kazejak will be presented at the Polish Film Festival 2024. Film screenings will take place in the centre of the capital of Korea, at an atmospheric Seoul Art Cinema.
Seoul International Music Festival: 18 October 2024
A concert honoured by participation of the world-famous celloist Arto Noras and Polish musicians will open the Seoul International Music Festival. The artists will perform on 18 October 2024 at the IBK Chamber Hall – one of the oldest concert halls in Seoul, at the Seoul Arts Center. The programme of the concert includes pieces by Karol Szymanowski, Wojciech Kilar and Krzysztof Penderecki.
The opening concert will be another chapter of collaboration with a prestigious partner – Seoul International Music Festival. The artistic director of the Seoul International Music Festival is Jeajoon Ryu, a Korean composer and fellow student of Krzysztof Penderecki, honoured by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage with the Gloria Artis Medal for Merit.
Jarasum Jazz Festival: 18-20 October 2024
The largest open air jazz festival in Korea – Jarasum Jazz Festival – will take place between 18 and 20 October 2024. After 12 years, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute has the privilege to present the Polish focus at this festival again. The organisers have invited Leszek Możdżer, who will perform on the biggest festival stage, as well as Immortal Onion, Kinga Głyk with her band and Błoto to present their music.
The Jarasum Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held since 2004 on the island of Jara, South Korea. The event attracts an audience of more than a hundred thousand every year and brings together some of the most remarkable jazz artists from around the world.
Sinfonia Varsovia tour across Korea: 26-27 November 2024
Sinfonia Varsovia, the Polish symphonic orchestra residing in Warsaw, will set off on its third tour across the Republic of Korea. Two concerts will take place as part of the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The first concert will be held on 26 November 2024 at the Seoul Arts Center. On the next day, the musicians will perform in Daegu – 280 kilometres away from Seoul – at the World Orchestra Series Festival. The programmes of concerts will include, among others, Little Suite by Witold Lutosławski, Lithuanian Rhapsody, opus 11 by Mieczysław Karłowicz and Orawa by Wojciech Kilar.
The overview of Polish animation and video art at MMCA in Seoul – 6 December 2024 – 11 January 2025
The first ever overview of the Polish animation and video art will take place this year in the Republic of Korea! It will be hosted by the prestigious National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) – the most important contemporary and modern art promoting institution in Seoul. The films will be presented in five blocks on Fridays and Saturdays:
- Avant-garde animation and formal experiments (6-7 December 2024);
- Art goes to cinema / Art is a woman (13-14 December 2024);
- Feature movies (20-21 December 2024);
- Between art and film these days (3-4 January 2025);
- Between art and film these days (10-11 January 2025).
Films which were created at the crossroads of two disciplines – film and visual arts, from the 1930s to the present day – will be screened during the festival. Screenings will be supplemented by curators’ comments, live lectures and meetings with the artists. Curators of the overview are Karol Szafraniec and Łukasz Ronduda. The final screening will at the same time close the cultural programme of AMI in the Republic of Korea.
The Polish cultural programme will embrace 6 months of celebration, 18 days of film screenings, 10 concerts and an exhibition, all of which will link 5 Korean cities together. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is pleased to invite you to the events. See you soon!