KCCN hosts virtual Ankara-Hanbok fashion design expo for Nigerian arts, culture enthusiasts

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The Korean Cultural Center in Nigeria (KCCN) yesterday held an online cultural exhibition to showcase the beauty in the combination of Nigeria Ankara fabric and Korean Hanbok in a fashion design show for Nigerian culture and arts enthusiasts in Abuja.
A statement issued by the Director of KCCN, Lee Jin Su, said the show was held through Korean Cultural Centre’s YouTube page, @KCCNIGERIA, which featured Hanbok and Ankara.
Lee Jin Su in the statement said “The Hanbok is a traditional attire of the Korean people that has a history of over 1,600 years. The Hanbok fabric itself is coloured with natural dyes. Beautiful in its own right, the core of Hanbok is its graceful shape and vibrant colours.
“Similarly, Nigeria has a rich and beautiful array of fabrics and traditional attires. Ankara has come to be part of such Nigeria’s colourful traditional fabrics. But there are also very unique Nigeria’s indigenous fabrics like Aso-Oke, Adire and Akwete. All make for a very vibrant, traditional fashion lifestyle of Nigerians.”
He further said the online Ankara-Hanbok fashion exhibition is the showcase of 10 best fashion designs from the Ankara-Hanbok design competition which took place from February 17 ~ March 15 2020.
He said the competition commenced with Nigerian designers submitting their paper sketches of Hanbok designs on Ankara fabrics, after which the best 20 sketch-designs were selected and designers required to sew their designs with the Ankara fabric of choice.
“This online exhibition is for the overall 10 best Ankara-Hanbok fabric-designs from that competition”, he said.
While explaining the importance of the event, he said “Through a competition like the Ankara –Hanbok competition, we have sought to promote creativity through deepening understanding of our cultural and art heritages.
“The contestants did their utmost to understand the Hanbok and Ankara so as to find the best means of fusing, in quite unique and expressive ways, the designs of Hanbok into Ankara fabric. The results they achieved are exquisite.
“The online exhibition of the best 10 designs has been undertaken so that more people can see and appreciate the creativity of these Nigerians. In Korea, designers are currently making Nigerian traditional design-attires with Hanbok fabrics.
“They are also making a fusion of Korean and Nigerian traditional designs. We hope to exhibit the designs together with those of our Nigerian winners later in November. Hopefully, through such programs as this, we will promote more understanding and togetherness among our peoples”, the statement said.