KIRKENES: The Barents Spektakel festival in Kirkenes is larger than ever. One of the main attractions of the 2012 festival is the five young accordionists from North Korea. See the video of their first performance in Kirkenes.
The North Korean accordionist together with Norwegian Minister of Culture, Anniken Huitfeldt. (Photo: Jonas Karlsbakk)
The cultural exchange between North Korea and the Barents Region is set up by Norwegian artist Morten Traavik. He is most known in the Barents Region for last year’s Norwegian, Russian border pole installation in Kirkenes, Oslo and Murmansk.
His You Tube video of the five young North Korean accordionists has been noticed all across the world, and more than one million people have clicked inn to see the movie now.
See BarentsObserver.com’s recordings from their first performance in Kirkenes.
A two-man delegation from North Korea’s Cultural Committee visited Barents Spektakel last year and said to BarentsObserver it is useful to see other places and they hoped to establish more cultural exchange with the festival in Kirkenes, in Norway’s north easternmost corner.
