The International Conference of Folklore, Art and Music of the Silk Road

The International Conference of Folklore, Art and Music of the Silk Road and Central Asia was organized by the University of Keimyung in Daegu, Republic of Korea, on 15 and 16 October 2015. The conference was attended by eminent Silk Roads experts, scholars and artists from the Republic of Korea and major countries along the Silk Roads, as well as representatives of the Keimyung University, the city of Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do province. The conference was officially opened by Mr Kim Tschung Sun, Director of the Centre for the Silk Road and Central Asia of Keimyung University, Mr Park Pilho, Director of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), Mr Duisen Kaseinov, Secretary General of TÜRKSOY, the International Organization of Turkic Culture, Mr Kim Hyun-Ki, Vice Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do province and Mr Synn Ilhi, President of Keimyung University.

Keynote speakers underlined the importance of the Silk Roads in strengthening bonds among the people and cultures living along these historic routes. They also extolled the contribution of the Silk Roads cultural heritage to promoting peace in the region.

The opening ceremony was followed by a series of plenary sessions during which experts were given the opportunity to present and discuss their views on various aspects of the Silk Roads. Miniatures, folk music, ritual dances, and the oral epics of the Silk Roads were discussed during the first plenary session. The religions of the Silk Roads (Shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Manicheism, Judaism, Christianism and Islam) and characteristic artistic expressions and traditions were examined in other sessions. The conference dealt in particular with the Silk Roads heritage in Anatolia, Caucasus, the Iranian plateau, the Indian sub-continent, Central Asia and the Korean Peninsula.

The 18th session of the Academic Council of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS) was organized as a side event of the conference. IICAS was established in 1995 in the framework of the UNESCO project, “the Integral Study of Silk Roads, Roads of Dialogue 1988-1997”. In the intervening years, UNESCO and IICAS have collaborated on different projects and in particular on the Silk Roads initiatives. During the Academic Council, the UNESCO project officer in charge of the Silk Road Online Platform made a presentation on the Online Platform for the benefit of delegates from ten IICAS member states.

An exhibition and a workshop on Iranian calligraphy were also organized. Participants of the conference had the opportunity to visit the campus of Keimyung University and to attend a performance of the Korean traditional Cheoyongmu court dance, which is inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The conference closed with the performance of artists from Turksoy countries. Mr Synn Ilhi, the President of Keimyung University, emphasized the commitment of the university to safeguard the Silk Roads cultural heritage and called for collective initiatives to this end.

This conference provided a unique opportunity for dialogue and exchanges between Silk Roads experts from Tukey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and four Central Asian republics and Korean experts and scholars. Scientific papers and articles presented at this conference will soon be available on the database of the Silk Road Online Platform.