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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

East Meets West On the Silk Road a Century Ago

Organized by the Finnish Embassy in Korea and with support from the Korea Foundation Cultural Center, a photo exhibition, ‘Asia through Mannerheim’s Eyes’, was presented at the Gallery Nuri, Korea Foundation Cultural Center (June 5-30).The exhibition featured the scenes and people along the Silk Road, as seen through the eyes of a European who traveled about this egendary route, linking East and West, some 100 years ago.

Roads of Dialogue
After being commissioned by the Russian government in 1906, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867-1951) embarked on a survey mission of the fabled Silk Road, from Turkistan (currently Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) to China. During this assignment, he recorded the scenes that he observed with photographs, while also collecting artifacts that caught his eye. Linking China with various countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa, the Silk Road was instrumental to facilitating barter trade and cultural exchange between the East and the West. UNESCO designated this route “Roads of Dialogue," in conjunction with its Integral Study of the Silk Roads Project, in recognition its essential contributions to promoting dialogue and exchange between the East and the West. After the passage of 100 years, the thoughts of Mannerheim, about the scenes that he experienced along the Silk Road, remain captured in his photographs, of which 65 images were on display at the Korea Foundation Cultural Center’s Gallery Nuri.

Rare Glimpse of Central Asia
Excerpts from Mannerheim’s travel journal help exhibition visitors to understand the circumstances related to his photographs. Starting from Tashkent, his journey brought him to Samarkand, Zhangyryk, Alay, Kyzyltag, Kalmuck, Urumqi, Manchuria, and Lanzhou. His travels to Tibet and Xian have been ed by his photographs of the scenes and people along the way. The subjects of his camera included curious Kyrgyz women who offered refreshments to this blue-eyed stranger, Kalmuck men performing a traditional dance, and Shira Uighur children on the street, which are vividly depicted in the black-and-white photographs. The exhibition reveals the pioneering spirit of the people who settled along the Silk Road, of which most of us know little more than what might have been mentioned in a history textbook. But for Mannerheim, his photographs serve as permanent records of the peoples and cultures that existed in Central Asia, one century ago.


▲ After the passage of 100 years the thoughts of Mannerheim about the scenes that he experienced along the Silk Road, remain captured in his photographs, of which 65 images were on display at the Korea Foundation
In particular, the ‘Asia through Mannerheim’s Eyes’ exhibition, which attracted some 1,500 visitors, provided a meaningful occasion to contemplate the significance of cultural exchange, in terms of its ability to promote mutual understanding and international cooperation. In this way, the Korea Foundation Cultural Center will continue to enhance the Korean people’s global understanding through the staging of various cultural events, reinforcing international cooperation through active network-building efforts, and consolidating its standing as the representative international exchange organization of Korea.


Interview : Kim Luotonen Finnish Ambassador to Korea

With support from the Korean Foundation Cultural Center, a photo exhibition, “Asia through Mannerheim’s Eyes,” was successfully held by the Finnish Embassy in Korea. In the following, Finnish Ambassador to Korea Kim Luotonen shares his thoughts about the exhibition.

1.What were your impressions about the photo exhibition?

I found it very interesting. I felt something different from what I had felt when I previously viewed the exhibition in Finland. What I especially liked about the recent exhibition was the way it showed the lifestyles of different countries. Of course, there was something in common, as well. A Korean visitor remarked with wonder, on the first day of the exhibition, that the buildings in the photographs looked similar to what he saw when he was young. I, myself, felt “something different but the same” throughout the exhibition.


2.What was the purpose of presenting this photo exhibition of Mannerheim?

Mannerheim’s photographs nicely fit the “Silk Road” theme suggested by the Korea Foundation, so I proceeded to organize the exhibition in earnest. Meanwhile, I also wanted to make the history of Finland correctly known to the Korean public. Many people think Finland was a part of Sweden, but in fact Finland was under Russian rule for a long time. Mannerheim, then at the service of the Russian army, traveled to various regions along the Silk Road and undertook diverse missions at the behest of the Russian government. In addition, I also wanted to let it be known that Finnish belongs to the Ural-Altaic language family, like Korean and Turkish.
I planned the exhibition with a hope that our two countries, with such a close linguistic relationship, might be connected by transcontinental railroad, from Busan to Helsinki, some day. If such railroad route opens for service, it will definitely be a modern-day version of the Silk Road.

3.Finnish culture and art are still unfamiliar to the Korean people. Do you have any plans to improve this situation?

Unfortunately, there are no specific plans for this right now. Although we have continued to introduce the culture and art of Finland thus far, I think we need to boost our efforts in this regard. I hope that there are opportunities for people to listen to the music of Sibelius, conducted by Mikko Franck of Finland. Finnish modern dance is also wonderful. A dance troupe from Finland staged the opening performance at an international modern dance festival recently. Finland is well known for its modern dance in Europe. In the future, I will make efforts to introduce Korea to the contemporary art of Finland, with a focus on design and architecture.


4.What kind of exchange activities do you believe that Korea and Finland should promote to better understand each other?

First of all, we should be more active in cultural exchanges like this. In this process, we should expand our exchanges to such areas as trade, tourism, and education. I especially hope to see more active student exchange between our two countries. I understand that about 30 Finnish students visit Korea each year. I hope Korea and Finland can get closer through the exchange of students, our future leaders. I also recommend that
festival lovers visit Finland. The Finnish people love festivals, and you can enjoy a diverse array of festivals in various sectors, including art, music, and dance.

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