After English, Spanish, and Arabic, the Festival d’Avignon welcomes an Asian language that now shines across the globe: Korean. South Korean culture fascinates the world : K-pop, cinema, series, literature… But beyond this soft power, we seek to highlight the richness of Korean performing arts.
Announced today during a conversation with Tiago Rodrigues, Director of the Festival d’Avignon, as part of the Café des idées, in the presence of Jang Ho Kim, President of the Korea Arts Management Service, and Kyu Choi, Artistic Director of the Seoul Performing Arts Festival.
In the 15th century, King Sejong created the Hangul alphabet, designed to combat illiteracy—a creative, revolutionary gesture and a symbol of the democratization of knowledge. Unlike global languages often associated with dominance or the colonization of less widespread tongues, the Festival chooses to invite a national language that has itself been shaped by the influence of other cultures. A story of resistance and resilience.