Bacolod, Korea’s Andong City strengthen cultural links

Posted by watchmen
November 11, 2023
Posted in TOP STORIES

 

Visiting legislators from Andong City, South Korea pose with the MassKara Festival dancers of Barangay Granada at the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City on Thursday, November 9, 2023. In a statement yesterday, November 10, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez expressed hope that their visit would pave the way for a more colorful collaboration between the two cities. (Albee Benitez  / Facebook photo)
Visiting legislators from Andong City, South Korea pose with the MassKara Festival dancers of Barangay Granada at the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City on Thursday, November 9, 2023. In a statement yesterday, November 10, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez expressed hope that their visit would pave the way for a more colorful collaboration between the two cities. (Albee Benitez / Facebook photo)

The Bacolod City government has strengthened ties with its sister city, South Korea’s Andong City, in a cultural exchange it hosted this week, highlighted by a MassKara Festival performance.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said yesterday that Bacolod is glad to celebrate its traditions with Korean guests.

“We hope this will pave the way for a more colorful collaboration between our two cities,” he added.

The Korean legislators, who came to Bacolod for a four-day benchmarking trip until Thursday, November 9, included Andong City Council chairman Keon Gi Ik and members Kim Ho Suk, Kim Jeaung Rim, and An Yu An of the Art and Culture Committee.

Barangay Granada dancers, the champions of the 2023 MassKara Festival Street Dance and Arena Competition, rendered a special performance for the guests at the Paglaum Sports Complex during their final day in the city.

Councilor Em Ang, the city council’s chair of the committee on history, culture and arts, said they exchanged ideas with their counterparts regarding mask festivals.

Andong City is best known for its Andong Mask Dance Festival, which focuses on various masks from around the world and is held every September.

It is the headquarters of the International Mask and Culture Organization (IMACO), consisting of more than 130 individual and group organizations from about 60 countries, which constructs archives of mask-related culture integral to cultural community symbols.

In 2018, the MassKara Festival dancers performed in the Andong Mask Dance Festival, while in 2019, Bacolod hosted the IMACO International Conference that featured an exhibit of more than 400 masks from 22 countries. (PNA)

 

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