Signature of a cooperation agreement with the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea
On Tuesday the 11th of April 2023, the BnF and the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea, in the persons of Ms Laurence Engel, President of the BnF and Ms Chae Su-Hee, Director-General of the Administration for Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Korea, signed a three-year cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening the scientific cooperation around the Korean collections of the BnF.
The facilitation of the Korean public to the exhibition «Printing! Gutenberg’s Europe» in which Jikji - the oldest known book in the world printed with movable metal type - is presented for the first time in 50 years, notably through online resources in Korean, as well as the joint organisation of conferences related to Jikji are among the first actions carried out under this agreement.
The signing ceremony took place prior to the opening of the exhibition. In addition to the two signatories, were also represented:
- the Ministry of Culture ;
- the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, an entity affiliated with the Cultural Heritage Administration, and the entity implementing cooperative actions with Korea around the exhibition «Printing!», represented by its President;
- the city of Cheongju, birthplace of Jikji, represented by its Mayor;
- the Cheongju Early Printing Museum and Chungbuk National University, partners in a cooperation for the realisation of physico-chemical analyses on Jikji;
- the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, an entity that refers to the teachings in Jikji, represented by its Director of Social and International Affairs.
The Ambassadors of the Republic of Korea to France and to UNESCO were also present, as well as the Director of the Korean Cultural Centre in Paris.
The guided tour of the exhibition by the curators Nathalie Coilly and Caroline Vrand (BnF) closed this diplomatic and scientific event.