Desolate desert, petroleum, a continuous religious war and terrorism, these maybe the things we imagine when we think about the Middle East. Korea has established diplomatic ties with 14 Middle Eastern countries and they are not far from Korea geographically. However, many Koreans have little knowledge about Middle Eastern countries, and what they do know is negative or prejudice. To reconstruct a correct perception and broaden interchanges with Middle Eastern countries, the city of Incheon opened the ‘Korean Center For Middle Eastern & Islamic Culture’ last October 22nd. “The Mideast now occupies the 3rd position with regard to the volume of trade with Korea. In addition, acquiring energy is the world’s agenda for the future, so Mid-Eastern countries are very important to us. We need a cultural approach over economic interchanges since the 21st century is a cultural era,” said Kim Jeoung Myung, Deputy of Secretary-General at the Institute for the Middle East Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
Middle East culture is a very splendid  and has a distinct character that is unlike the image of the desert. Above all the Middle East region has importance as cradle of three religions; Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Mostly we know Islam as a minor religion, however it is believed to be the religion of 20 percent of the population in the world. A chapel, Mosque, means a place that people bow putting their brow to the floor.  Contrary to the cozy and pious atmosphere of interior, the exterior of the Mosque is very magnificentand reminds us of an Arabian palace in a fairy tale. In addition, their deep piety affects their art. The Turkish miniature is different from western painting. A Turkish miniature is presented using a plain drawing based on a god-oriented attitude, while Western paintings use perspective drawings to express human-oriented attitudes. Sometimes their strong worship toward religion causes war and gives negative images to other citizens in the world. However, I feel envy, because it is root of their life and an emotional prop.      

esolate desert, petroleum, a continuous religious war and terrorism, these maybe the things we imagine when we think about the Middle East. Korea has established diplomatic ties with 14 Middle Eastern countries and they are not far from Korea geographically. However, many Koreans have little knowledge about Middle Eastern countries, and what they do know is negative or prejudice. To reconstruct a correct perception and broaden interchanges with Middle Eastern countries, the city of Incheon opened the ‘Korean Center For Middle Eastern & Islamic Culture’ last October 22nd. “The Mideast now occupies the 3rd position with regard to the volume of trade with Korea. In addition, acquiring energy is the world’s agenda for the future, so Mid-Eastern countries are very important to us. We need a cultural approach over economic interchanges since the 21st century is a cultural era,” said Kim Jeoung Myung, Deputy of Secretary-General at the Institute for the Middle East Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.Middle East culture is a very splendid  and has a distinct character that is unlike the image of the desert. Above all the Middle East region has importance as cradle of three religions; Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Mostly we know Islam as a minor religion, however it is believed to be the religion of 20 percent of the population in the world. A chapel, Mosque, means a place that people bow putting their brow to the floor.  Contrary to the cozy and pious atmosphere of interior, the exterior of the Mosque is very magnificentand reminds us of an Arabian palace in a fairy tale. In addition, their deep piety affects their art. The Turkish miniature is different from western painting. A Turkish miniature is presented using a plain drawing based on a god-oriented attitude, while Western paintings use perspective drawings to express human-oriented attitudes. Sometimes their strong worship toward religion causes war and gives negative images to other citizens in the world. However, I feel envy, because it is root of their life and an emotional prop.      

 

 


 Do you know that Belly dancing comes from Turkey? It is hard to guess owing to Arab women’s conservative clothing. In spite of this prejudice, their  ornaments, plates, and carpet have garish colors and showy patterns. They use their diverse handwriting to decorate carpets, plates and the others. They are very proud of their heritage in contrast with our contempt attitude toward Korean.
From the civilization of Mesopotamia, the Mideast and Islamic culture affects many other countries.  We can find one that looked like a Korean traditional mask, it expresses the appearance of ‘Cheoyong’, who shows up  in old Korean folk songs ‘Hyangga’. There is a great possibility that Choeyong might be the first Muslim coming to Korea. The strange Mideast culture is becoming more familiar because of thought that Cheoyong could be a real Persia merchant in Shin-ra era.        
You might have ever seen Arab women wearing the Chador. Many people do  not realize that Chador means protection for women. The Center explains many parts of our wrong perception about the Mideast, which comes from a Western standpoint. Professor Kim asserts that, “Because every culture has both positive and negative aspects, we need to understand one culture with a general vision. So this center will be devoted to understanding Mideast culture.”

 
 

 Egyptian culture is more familiar to us than the other Mideast culture.  We can see statues of Pharaoh and other Egyptian ancient gods here at first hand. The Korean Center for Middle Eastern & Islamic Culture holds a special exhibitions periodically selecting one country in Middle East region. Black and gold colors flow from an Egyptian relic was very impressive and Egyptian music surrounding the center raised the exotic mood. 
Additionally, the City of Incheon and the Korea-Middle East Association will offer seminars and educational experiences to strengthen friendships between Korea and Middle East. We can expect development of domestic business with support of Mideast countries owing to their rapid rate of economic growth. The Korean Center for Middle Eastern & Islamic Culture will be a bridge for us as it is the first culture center for Mideast in Asia. If you go there, image the attitudes and ideas about the Mideast that you used to have will be changed to strong and soft flavors and scent like coffee which originated in the Middle East. 
 
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