The head of the Asian Culture Complex Fair has invited Iran to attend its 2015 event.
Yung Chul Lee, the head of the Artistic Section of Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) extended the invitation during a meeting with Iran’s head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) Research Center on Saturday.
“The present visit contributed to our keenness and interest in Iran’s rich culture, especially those relating to Iranian myths and legends,” Lee was quoted by Mehr News as saying. He asked Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization for cooperation in the Asian Culture Complex Fair of 2015.
Seyed Mohammad Beheshti welcomed Lee’s invitation to participate in the Fair, and hoped both sides would sign a cooperation agreement.
He went on to elaborate the meaning of neighbor or ‘hamshaye’ in Persian. Neighbors, said Beheshti, means two countries ‘in each other’s shadow’. In cultural terms it could be seen to mean both countries embracing each other’s cultures,” Beheshti said.
Ahram Kim, Korean researcher and aide to Lee provided some background and details on Asian Culture Complex and its many subsections, adding the fair aims to display the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Asian countries.
“South Korea has long been under the influence of Europe and the US, thus it has suffered a sort of cultural alienation from its true self; however, recently, we have found our true Asian roots, and in this path, we would like to display our myths and legends in artistic forms,” the researcher said.
She lamented the lack of academic centers of Iranian cultural studies in the Far East, and believed that cooperation of Cultural Heritage Research Center would be the first step in the path to cultural opening.
