This is a scene from a performance in November last year hosted by the KCC in Argentina.

By Charles Audouin
Photos = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on April 10 said 26 of its Korean Cultural Centers (KCC) worldwide will host throughout this year cultural events ranging from Hanbok (traditional clothing) and crafts to traditional performing arts and Hansik (traditional food).

This permanent exhibition is at the Korean Cultural Center in Vienna, Austria.

Europe and Central Asia

The KCC in Belgium through next month will host a photo exhibition of 21 works featuring locals clad in Hanbok against the backdrops of major attractions in three Belgian cities.

That in Germany in August will host colorful performing arts like talchum (traditional mask dance), taepyeongmu (great peace dance) and the gayageum (12-stringed traditional zither).

The center in Kazakhstan, will host a concert featuring traditional musical instruments such as the piri (double-reed bamboo flute), daegeum (large bamboo transverse flute) and haegeum (two-string vertical fiddle).

In Italy, the KCC there will host a Hanji (traditional paper) exhibition in June and a Hanji dyeing class in July with experts based in Italy.

Classes for gugak (traditional music) are slated at the branches in France, Sweden and Austria. That in Spain will host a craft exhibition and the one in Hungary a display of traditional embroidery.

Hansik contests and sampling events will be held at the KCCs in the U.K., Turkiye (Turkey) and Russia.

This group photo was taken in December last year of a Korean culture class at the KCC in Thailand.

East Asia

In Japan, the KCC in Osaka will host exhibitions themed on the four seasons with items like the moon jar and making royal silk flowers in spring, geumbakjang (gold imprinting craft) in summer, onggijang (craft of traditional earthenware) in fall and nubijang (traditional quilting) in winter.

In China, Shanghai in June will host an exhibition of traditional Korean music and a youth exchange concert in June and July will be jointly hosted by related organizations of both countries.

A traveling exhibition of silk produced in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, is slated at the KCCs in the Philippines in May, Indonesia in September and Vietnam in October. The one in Thailand will host traditional culture classes year-round.

This 2025 Hansik masterclass is being held at the KCC in Russia.

Americas

The KCC in Washington in October will host an event for ssireum (traditional wrestling) and an interactive program for kimchi to mark the U.S. capital's Kimchi Day (Nov. 22).

Those in Los Angeles (August) and Ottawa, Canada, (October) will each host an exhibition of the beauty of mother-of-pearl.

In Brazil, the KCC there will publish in the second half of the year a book on Hansik restaurants and making traditional cuisine, the first time of its kind in the country, and an exhibition to celebrate the publication.

That in Argentina will hold classes on Korean culinary culture, while that in Australia will host an event this month for hangwa (traditional confectionery) made with tangerines from Jeju Island.

Africa

The KCCs in Nigeria and South Africa will host Korean cultural events featuring Hansik, Hanbok and traditional craft experiences.

This gallery displaying works of art made from mother-of-pearl is at the KCC in Los Angeles.