By Kim Seon Ah
Photos = Asia Culture Center

Sept. 17 at the Asia Culture Center (ACC) in Gwangju's Dong-gu District, the venue of this year's Asia Culture Week opened on Sept. 15, commemorated the 50th anniversary of ties between Korea and Indonesia through a daylong event.

"All Day Indonesia" featured cultural events under the themes of Indonesia's traditional dance, performing arts and movies. Launched in 2011, Asia Culture Week this year held its first event centered on the archipelago. 

The event began at 3:30 p.m. with an interactive class on traditional Indonesian dance at the lobby of the ACC Theater.

The Kyungsung Indonesian Traditional Dance Association (KITA), an extracurricular activity group of Indonesian students at Kyungsung University in Busan, performed the saman, a dance of the ethnic group Gayo from Indonesia's Aceh province. Designated a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, the dance is performed on important days or traditional events of Gayonese.

"What's special about the saman is that about a large number of about 10 people sit side by side in a single line and dance, so cooperation and unity are important," said KITA member Valerie Myra. "It's an honor to be part of an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomacy between Korea and Indonesia."

The Asia Traditional Orchestra held a performance that day from 5 p.m. at Theater 2 of the ACC Theater. This group was formed in 2009 during Korea's bilateral summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Jeju Island in May that year, after ASEAN member states accepted Korea's suggestion of "Asia becomes one through music."

Orchestra members play traditional instruments from Korea and the 10 ASEAN countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Tory's, an a cappella gugak (traditional music) group, performed on the opening stage, singing songs from a range of genres like the traditional Korean tunes "Changbu Taryeong" (Shaman's Chant) and "Kwaejina Ching Ching Nane" and pop songs such as "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.

The audience shouted "Onghaeya," an old Korean term mostly used in traditional folk songs to lift the mood of harvest work, in hearing new age gugak, clapping and heating up the atmosphere.

"I'm surprised that it's been 50 years," Torys' member Lee Shin-ye said about ties between both countries. "I hope for more opportunities like this to exchange cultures and communicate."

The Asia Traditional Orchestra performed after Torys and played songs from each ASEAN member state such as Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

"Indonesian Archipelago" was composed to mark the 50th anniversary milestone. 

"We selected this song because we wanted to show that Indonesia is still one despite comprising many islands," the song's composer and conductor Iso Eddy Himawarso said. "We hope that Korea and Indonesia develop closer family-like relations and for more frequent cultural and arts exchanges."

Concluding the daylong event was the screening at 7:30 p.m. of the Indonesian documentary "Bali: Beats of Paradise." Based on the story of Nyoman Wenten, a virtuoso of the traditional Indonesian instrument gamelan, the film features Wenten and his gamelan-funk collaboration with Grammy-winning American singer Judith Hill to promote Balinese music and dance, two genres in danger of extinction, before retiring with the aim of getting a million views on YouTube.

All cultural events programs of Asia Culture Week, which ends on Sept. 24, are free. Reservations can be made on the event's official website.

sofiakim218@korea.kr