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Korean cultural centers host festivals

December 2, 2013
Students and graduates of Ewha Womans University make kimchi in this file phto taken in November last year at the school campus in northern Seoul.

Students and graduates of Ewha Womans University make kimchi in this file phto taken in November last year at the school campus in northern Seoul.

By Kim Ji-soo

The Korean Culture Center in Washington will hold a Dec. 5 forum to introduce the making of kimchi — popularly known as kimjang — which is a staple in the Korean diet.

This unique Korean practice is expected to be registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage when the 8th Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage is held Dec. 2-8 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The UNESCO subsidiary body, which evaluates new candidates for UNESCO registration, recommended kimjang for registration as it found it an essential part in maintaining the cohesiveness of Korean communities.

To herald the forthcoming decision, the forum will invite Paul Taylor from the Smithsonian Institution to talk about the meaning of the registration. auryn Chun, head of Mother-in-Law Kimchi, will also talk about the fermented cabbage and various recipes for it. Chun has been actively promoting kimchi in the United States, where her book “The Kimchi Cookbook: 60 Traditional and Modern Ways to Make and Eat Kimchi” received rave reviews.

Products from Mother-in-Law Kimchi, founded in 2009, is sold in central New City stores including the Plaza Food Hall in the Manhattan Plaza hotel.

Korea currently has 15 cultural elements on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list, including the old, drum-backed song genre of “pansori,” annual memorial services at the Jongmyo Shrine for deceased Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) monarchs and the traditional Dano Festival in the seaside town of Gangneung.

The Korean Cultural Center in Germany has launched a Jazz Korea Festival 2013 with 14 Korean jazz artists including Jin Pureum Quartet, Maria Kim Quartet, Kim Min-chan and Oh Eun-hye, and 17 foreign artists such as Martin Zenker.

Having started in Grafing in Germany on Nov. 28, the festival has dates in Frankfurt, Munich, Reutlingen, Ettinlingen and Berlin remaining through Dec. 8.

In particular, the venue in Munich — the Unterfahrt — is a renowned jazz club with 35 years of history. It was selected as one of the 100 best jazz clubs in the world by the American jazz magazine DownBeat. For more information, visit www.kulturekorea.de.