9 Korean works heading to Avignon Festival 2026

Korea’s contemporary theater and dance are set to take center stage at one of the world’s most influential performing arts festivals this summer.

At a press conference in Seoul, the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) introduced nine Korean productions invited to the French festival, which has chosen Korean as its official “guest language” for 2026 — the first time an Asian language and a single national language have been given that status in the program’s history. “The decision to make Korean the guest language of this year’s Festival d’Avignon is a well-deserved recognition of the poetic power of the Korean language as well as the dynamism, creativity and diversity of contemporary Korean theater,” said Pierre Morcos, conseiller for cultural cooperation at the French Embassy in Seoul. “There is already great anticipation among French audiences,” he added.

KAMS President Kim Jang-ho said the large-scale invitation reflects growing global interest in Korean-language contemporary performances. “It proves that the creativity and diversity of contemporary performi