KCCN stages Ankara – Hanbok online exhibition

The Korean Cultural Centre of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea is staging an online Ankara – Hanbok exhibition to showcase of 10 best fashion designs from the design competition which took place from between February and March, 2020.

A press statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday and made available to Blueprint, the director of the Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria (KCCN) Lee Jin Su said Hanbok is a traditional attire of the Korean people that has a history of over 1,600 years.

Jin Su said, “The Hanbok fabric itself is coloured with natural dyes. Beautiful in its own right, the core of Hanbok is its graceful shape and vibrant colours. Similarly, Nigeria has a rich and beautiful array of fabrics and traditional attires. Ankara has come to be part of such Nigeria’s colourful traditional fabrics. But there are also very unique Nigeria’s indigenous fabrics like Aso-Oke, Adire and Akwete. All make for a very vibrant, traditional fashion lifestyle of Nigerians.”

On the essence and import of the exhibition, the KCCN director said, “The online Ankara-Hanbok fashion exhibition is the showcase of 10 best fashion designs from the Ankara-Hanbok design competition which took place from February 17 ~ March 15 2020. The competition commenced with Nigerian designers submitting their paper sketches of Hanbok designs on Ankara fabrics.

“The best 20 sketch-designs were selected and designers required to sew their designs with the Ankara fabric of choice. This online exhibition is for the overall 10 best Ankara-Hanbok fabric-designs from that competition.   

“Through a competition like the Ankara –Hanbok competition, we have sought to promote creativity through deepening understanding of our cultural and art heritages. The contestants did their utmost to understand the Hanbok and Ankara so as to find the best means of fusing, in quite unique and expressive ways, the designs of Hanbok into Ankara fabric. The results they achieved are exquisite.

“The online exhibition of the best 10 designs has been undertaken so that more people can see and appreciate the creativity of these Nigerians. In Korea, designers are currently making Nigerian traditional design-attires with Hanbok fabrics. They are also making a fusion of Korean and Nigerian traditional designs. We hope to exhibit the designs together with those of our Nigerian winners later in November. Hopefully, through such programs as this, we will promote more understanding and togetherness among our peoples.”

Leave a Reply