The Tunisian Embassy hosted an exhibition showing prints of the country’s traditional mosaic and handicraft masterpieces at the Korea Foundation Gallery in Seoul from March 4-12.

Showcasing patterns of mosaics, ceramics, carpets and jewelry covering 1,800 years of history, the exhibition displayed the cultural mosaic of Tunisian life formed by Carthaginian, Byzantine, Roman, Arabic and Ottoman civilizations.


“The idea was to combine and show Tunisia’s two main cultural heritages of mosaics and handicrafts from the Bardo National Museum in capital Tunis,” Tunisian Ambassador to Korea Mohamed Ali Nafti told The Korea Herald.

Korea Foundation executive vice president Zeon Nam-jin said in a speech, “Our foundation has put great efforts to introduce Tunisian culture to the Korean public in recent years, including film-screening events in 2006 and 2007.”

He added, “As a result of its location in northern Africa, Tunisian culture has been shaped by a combination of Arabic, African and European influences. Tunisia is famous for its elaborate mosaic artworks and magnificent architectures with design features of the ancient Roman Empire.”

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)