Marking 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Egypt and Korea, Ambassador Khaled Abdel Rahman leaves open the embassy's doors and promotes immersive exhibition.
Khaled Abdel Rahman, Egypt’s ambassador to South Korea, sees a distinguished similarity between the two countries — a huge river that runs through the country, the Nile in Egypt and Han River in Korea.
“We say the river Nile is the gift to Egypt, and here you also have the Han river. That was why there was civilization in Korea and Egypt,” the ambassador said during the interview on Wednesday at Walkerhill Hotel & Resort. “Water means you can have agriculture, and when you have agriculture, you have human settlement, then you have a community, develop education and start to develop culture.”
The ancient history of Egypt is brought back to life through “Egyptian Pharaohs, From Cheops to Ramesses II” at Walkerhill Hotel & Resort. The digital immersive exhibition encompasses 10 themes that include the stories of the Nile, pharaohs, myths, pyramids and temples.
“I think it brings Egyptian civilization in a digital format to the Korean viewers, which is very unique for Korea as (the country is) very advanced in this field of technology. I think it will give Korean companies many suggestions on how civilizations can be brought to life again through digital art,” Rahman said.
The exhibition coincides with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. At the entrance to the exhibition is the embassy’s collection, brought from Egypt’s Ministry of culture. The replicas of “The Great Temple of Abu Simbel,” a monumental temple complex built by pharaoh Ramesses II to assert his divine power, and two statues "Horus Depicted as a Hawk" are part of the collection on display.
“Horus was an interesting creature flying in the sky, and the king believed that it was his protector. You know, like the aircraft. That is how this myth developed the Horus, and it is actually the logo of the Egypt Air,” he said.
Marking the 30th anniversary, the Egyptian Embassy in Seoul has opened its doors to the public, the ambassador said, to facilitate cultural interaction with people here to promote the country’s culture.
“This is a big role for embassies to be among the public, not just for official functions, not just for the national holiday reception,” he said. “We are happy to host Korean children from schools and give them some lectures and they can look around the Embassy and its collection. Anybody who wants to come and visit, just contact the embassy.”
The ambassador expects the immersive exhibition, which has a running time of 36 minutes, to draw a large audience as it is not only visually beautiful but educational. He also expressed gratitude to Tmonet, the Korean operator of the Theatre des Lumieres, as partner of French company Culturespaces, and the Embassy of France for making the exhibition possible in Seoul.
The exhibition will run until Oct.31.
Lastly the ambassador expressed his wish for “Korean universities to open a department for Egyptology. This can open an opportunity for a lot of Koreans, for job opportunities with digital technology in Korea."
yunapark@heraldcorp.com
