Ryu KyungHwa & World Music Ensemble E-DO
We are delighted to invite you to a riveting performance by Ryu KyungHwa and World Music Ensemble E-DO, an outstanding music ensemble that combines traditional Korean music with modern rhythms in a unique and impressive manner. The group is led by Ryu KyungHwa, one of Korea’s most respected traditional musicians.
Ryu KyungHwa started learning traditional Korean dance at the age of four. She is credited with reviving the chulhyungeum, a traditional Korean string instrument that was on the brink of extinction. She is often called the reviver of the chulhyungeum. Ryu KyungHwa performs with the chulhyungeum and jangu, a traditional Korean hourglass-shaped drum, along with four talented musicians.
Lee KyungGu plays the daegeum, a long traditional Korean bamboo flute. JC Curve plays the bass and has experience with many styles of music, including jazz, pop and Latin music. Lee WooJoo plays percussion, while Park BeomTae, a traditional East Coast Korean shamanic music performer and cultural heritage educator, provides the vocals.
Together, they create music that brings traditional Korean sounds and modern music together in a unique way. Their performances introduce audiences to both the traditions of gugak (Korean traditional music) and modern Korean music, while adding their own creative style based on their deep understanding of Korean traditional music.
Their music is technically precise and well-crafted, while also being fresh, spontaneous and full of improvisation.
Bison (Two Hands)
The work Bison (Two Hands) conveys the idea of bringing both hands together in prayer, expressing and offering human wishes and aspirations to the Divine.
Rooted in gut, a form of traditional Korean ritual music characterized by powerful instrumental performances and a vibrant, spirited energy, the work combines contemporary musical sensibilities with universal musical expressions of our time to create a new form of traditional music.
The overall emotional journey of the work unfolds in three parts:
Part 1 – Cheongsin (청신):
Calling upon the Divine with both hands clasped together, carrying the wishes and aspirations of humanity.
Part 2 – Osin (오신):
Celebrating the gods who have joined humanity through spirited energy, excitement and joy.
Part 3 – Songsin (송신):
The farewell and sending-off of the gods as they return once again to the heavens.
The distinctive sound of the Cheolhyungeum, which bridges the traditional and contemporary, runs throughout the entire piece, guiding and carrying its narrative.
Its sound is complemented by the daegeum, the mystical tones of the handpan and the expansive sound of the bass, creating a new sonic landscape rarely heard in traditional Korean music.
Ryu KyungHwa
• Ph.D. in Musicology
• Director of the School of Traditional Arts, Korea National University of Arts
• 2002 – Received the Young Artist of the Year Award
• 2004 – Received the 1st Artist of the Year Award
• 2011 – Received the KBS Korean Traditional Music Awards in the String
Instrument category
• 2013–2018 – Artistic Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Traditional
Music Orchestra
• 2020 – Artistic Director of the Yeowoorak Festival at the National Theater of
Korea
• 2026 – Artistic Director of the Seoul Gugak Festival
JC Curve (Seo Jung Chul)
• Yamaha Bass Artist
• General Director of Ambient Sound at Discovery Indoor Park
• Artistic Director of the K-Culture Festival, celebrating the 23rd anniversary of
Korea–China diplomatic relations
• Award Winner in Jazz & Crossover with the JC Curve World Music Group
• Expert Judge on KBS Top Band
• Music Director of MBC Picnic Live: Soopong
Park BeomTae
• Bachelor’s degree in Traditional Performing Arts, Korea National University of
Arts
• Master’s degree in Music, Korea National University of Arts
• Ph.D. in Literature, Korea University Graduate School
• Transmission and Education Instructor for the National Intangible Heritage
Donghaean Byeolsingut (East Coast Byeolsingut Ritual)
• Cultural Heritage Committee Member of the Five Northern Korean Provinces
Office.
Lee KyungGu
• PAMS Choice-selected artist for the ‘LK9’ Showcase
• Presented the solo showcase ‘SLAM’ as part of AKL’s Immersive Sound fusion
arts program
• Invited to perform a solo LK9 concert at the Korean Days event by the
Therme Group in Romania
• Music Director for the invited Korean team at the Sibiu International Theatre
Festival (FITS) in Romania
• Leader of the World Music Band BANDI
• Founder and Representative Director of LK9 Art Company
Lee Woo-joo
• Grand Prize, General Division, at the 38th National Gosu Competition
• Grand Prize at the 7th Lotte Concours “Youth Festival”
• Best Performance Award, Jeongdong Theater “Youth Blossom”
• Composed and performed for the 1st Lee Woo-joo Recital
• Music Director, Korea–Denmark co-production After the War
• Music production and performance at the DDP Hanbok Fair Music Festival
• Selected for the “Frontier” program at the Jeonju International Sori Festival
• Director, Korean Traditional Percussion Duo “Eum”
• Founder and Representative Director of LK9 Art Company
Entry is free. Limited seats and registration is mandatory. Registration will be on a first-come, first served basis.
For further information, please contact InKo Centre — T: 044 24361224 · E: enquiries@inkocentre.org
Hangeul Day
Join us at InKo Centre, as we observe Hangeul Day (한글날) - a day commemorating the creation and proclamation of Hangeul, the Korean writing system created under the stewardship of King Sejong the Great. Celebrated annually on 9 October, Hangeul Day honours the linguistic heritage of Korea and the remarkable design and principles behind its alphabet. It is a celebration of Korea’s language, culture and the enduring legacy of Hangeul as a unique and accessible writing system.
As part of our Hangeul Day (한글날)celebrations, we invite you to explore the beauty and significance of the Korean language through two creative contests - creating a digital poster and a short essay writing assignment. Click on the link to learn more about the contest and how to participate. https://forms.gle/c9q52nb8jY7yN7Mu6
For further information, please contact InKo Centre — T: 044 24361224; E: enquiries@inkocentre.org
Excerpts from Limits of Change at the Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2026
Back in 2009 a mixed group of leading Mumbai personalities, all lovers of literature, met at a gathering and began to wonder why their beloved city, with all its avid readers, did not have a book festival. One of them, Anil Dharker, was inspired to passionately take up this challenging enterprise. And so was born what today is an internationally known and annually awaited festival, Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest
This year the festival returns for its 17th edition from 23rd to 25th October 2026, promising a diverse selection of writers, speakers, thinkers, performers and literati at large, from across borders, to not only exchange ideas and perspectives, but to imagine and pave the way for tomorrow.
InKo Centre is delighted to present Excerpts from Limits of Change: an extraordinary story of India’s role in the Korean War at The Mumbai LitFest 2026.
Limits of Change is a compelling piece of storytelling and theatre that unfolds within the immersive space of an art installation.
At its heart lies the personal arc of Curator P and her absent father, General N. This personal narrative is juxtaposed with the broader historical context of the Korean War, particularly the problematic Prisoners of War (POW) issue. A 6000-member Custodian Force, India (CFI), tasked to resolve this issue, sailed from Chennai to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea in 1953.
Through stories which mix autobiographical and geo-political realities, a vital but forgotten aspect of Indo-Korean history is unveiled. The Limits of Change experience speaks of a specific moment in time but also of the continuing relevance, perhaps now more than ever, of the power of forgiveness, the importance of peace and the transformative role of artistic endeavour as a conduit of hope.
Parvathi Nayar
Parvathi Nayar, is a Chennai-based multidisciplinary artist and writer, known for her complex drawing practices, installations, mixed media work and video art. Her work emphasises sustainability, delving into climate change and ecological issues; water, in all its aspects, is a consistent theme.
Notable solo exhibitions include "Atlas of Re-Imaginings" and “Drawing is a Verb” while her installations, such as "Dreamcatcher", “Ocean’s Breath”, "Chicken Run," and “WAVE” engage with public spaces and diverse mediums. Parvathi curated the award- winning permanent show The Living Ocean, at the Dakshinachitra Museum (2024). She is a founder-member of The Hashtag #Collective.
Parvathi's global presence in biennales including the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Chennai Photo Biennale3 and prestigious group shows; her films such as “Seaspeaker” and “By the Mouth of the River’ being featured in international festivals; and her contributions as a writer, underscore her multifaceted artistic career.
She completed her Masters in Fine Art from Central St Martins, London, on a
Chevening scholarship and has received acclaim for her impactful TEDx talks.
For more informations:
www.parvathinayar.com
https://www.facebook.com/parvathinayarart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parvathi_Nayar
Instagram: artistparvathinayar Twitter: @NayarParvathi
Nayantara Nayar
Nayantara Nayar is a playwright, researcher and storyteller from Chennai, India. Her research interests include memory, urban spaces and ecological crises. She is a CHASE funded PhD researcher at University of East Anglia where she studies water crisis and the potential of theatre practices to foster different water-related imaginaries. As a part of her research, she is studying three different playscripts by Indian authors written in the last fifty years and also writing three plays that are in response to the texts she is studying and the larger body of research she is undertaking.
Her body of work as a playwright includes, the visual art + performance project Limits of Change (Co-Creator, Chennai Photo Biennale, 2024-25); Lost Waters (Green Theatre Revolution, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2024); Curfew (Rage Theatre and Lyric Theatre Belfast, 2022-23); The Sometimes River (Parag, 2023); Chicken Run (Co-Creator, Chennai Photo Biennale, 2021-22); and The Body (New Writing Festival, Rage Theatre and Enacte Theatre).
Yog Japee
Yog Japee is an actor, director, educator, applied arts practitioner and a Chevening Clore Fellow. His focuses on public engagement in the arts for social change. As an arts practitioner with over 20 years of experience, he has worked towards integrating arts interventions into education, health & development programmes.
Yog is particularly passionate about bringing together diverse art forms to tell stories. He believes that theatre and storytelling is universal and strives towards enacting performances in non-traditional, non-proscenium spaces.
He loves finding narratives in stories, He believes that,
“every story is a resting-face-reticent, Onion!“.
He welcomes you to make your own story and narrative about that.
Sukanya Umesh
Sukanya Umesh or “Suki” as she goes by, is a storyteller across theatre, film and print media with over 10 years of professional experience. Her passion is to use storytelling to impact change. She has worked with over 100 schools and child-first organisations, impacting thousands of children’s lives and inspiring them to pick up reading and performance. In 2014 she debuted at the Short and Sweet Festival Chennai with her original script “Ideal Image” and won Best Director for the Wildcard round. In 2019 Ms Moochie Books published Lola and Chacko, crediting her as co-author based on her storytelling performances of the story. In 2025, her short film “Spice Roots” was featured as part of Pro Europeana’s Creative Residency’s Digital Storytelling Video Challenge. Her dream is to tell as many stories to as many people in as many ways as possible.
Venkataraghavan
Venkataraghavan is a writer and actor from Chennai. He wrote the nonfiction books “The Origin Story of India's States” and “Lights! Camera! Democracy! The Cinematic- Politics of Tamil Nadu”. He is also the author of the children's book “Brachio” and he was the first recipient of the Neev Fellowship for Children’s Book Creators. His short fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review and The Bombay Literary Magazine, among others. He also writes for and performs on stage and screen.
Excerpts from Limits Of Change will be presented at the NCPA Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400021, Sunday, 25 October 2026 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
For further information, please contact InKo Centre — T: 044 24361224 · E: enquiries@inkocentre.org
Dental Camp 2026
InKo Centre, in collaboration with the K-Art International Exchange Association (K-ART), Korea, and Srinivasan Services Trust (SST), the social arm of TVS Motor Company, will facilitate a Korea-India Dental camp at Padaveedu, Vellore district, on 23–24 October 2026.
A team of Korean dental professionals and volunteers will come together to provide a free dental care and oral- health awareness programme to communities in the region. The initiative builds on the ongoing cultural and social exchange between India and Korea, extending the partnership beyond arts and cultural exchanges to community well-being and healthcare outreach.
Through such partnerships, intercultural exchange becomes an opportunity to build understanding, cooperation and shared community experiences.
For further information, please contact InKo Centre — T: 044 24361224; E: enquiries@inkocentre.org