A whirling dervish performance and Sufism workshop was held on November 11 at KMU Haedam Concert Hall. Gyeongsangbuk-do province and KMU Center for Silk Road and Central Asia jointly hosted the workshop to introduce Sufism (mystical thought of Islam).
The event comprised a special lecture and a sema performance by a Turkish whirling dervish (semazen) dance team. The performance consisted of a recitation of a tradition poem, playing a ney (bamboo pipe from the Middle East) and a saz (stringed instrument), and Sufi dance. The Sufi dance was the highlight of the performance. The dancers wearing long skirts danced for over an hour spinning round and round in the same place. In addition, people sang Ilāhīs (religious poems) to the sound of a pipe and drum.
Abdurrahman Shen, who is the Minister for Culture and Society in Turkey and a KMU visiting professor, lectured about Turkey and recited a traditional Turkish poem. It helped Keimyung students to understand Islamic culture.