Cremonese violin making and its centuries-old craftsmanship, recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, will be the focus of a major cultural event in Seoul, scheduled from October 31 to November 21. The event marks the conclusion of the Italy–Korea Cultural Exchange Year 2024–2025, launched during President Mattarella’s visit in 2023, which featured a rich program of performances, exhibitions, and cultural initiatives. The exchange is based on the Memorandum of Understanding between Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.

For three weeks, Antonio Stradivari’s celebrated 1727 “Vesuvio” violin—part of the Civic Violin-Making Collections of the Municipality of Cremona and displayed at the Violin Museum—will be the centerpiece of a prestigious international exhibition on historical musical instruments, hosted in one of the halls of Deoksugung Palace, part of the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center in Seoul’s historic royal complex.

In what is today considered one of the symbolic venues of Korean culture, an entire hall will be dedicated to Cremona, offering visitors an immersive journey through the city’s violin-making tradition, the legacy of Stradivari, the history of the “Vesuvio”, and the exceptional heritage of artifacts from the master’s workshop.

The violin will also star in two concerts held in the Seokjojeon Hall of Deoksugung Palace—one opening and one closing the celebrations—performed by internationally acclaimed violinist Ji-Young Lim, who won the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2015 at just twenty years old.

The initiative is part of the “Project of Major Importance 2024”, supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, involving the University of Pavia and the Korea National University of Heritage. Its goal is to advance diagnostics and conservation of historical musical instruments and textiles from both Italian and Korean heritage collections, through a multidisciplinary scientific approach.

The opening of the exhibition and the concert, both scheduled for October 31, will also be attended by Mayor Andrea Virgilio, Councillor for Culture Rodolfo Bona, Violin Museum Director Virginia Villa, Curator Riccardo Angeloni, Professor Marco Malagodi, and Professor Tomaso Vecchi, Vice-Rector for Institutional Affairs at the University of Pavia.

“Bringing a Stradivari to Seoul,” stated Cremona’s Mayor Andrea Virgilio, “is not merely a cultural operation—it is a tangible act that opens the city to the world through its excellence. Cremonese violin making is not just history and tradition, but an ecosystem where luthiers and musicians, universities and research centers, workshops and museums coexist. The ‘Vesuvio’ is a concrete expression of this chain of excellence—a heritage of expertise that translates into exchanges, research projects, and new relationships. Our presence in South Korea strengthens ties with Seoul and expands Cremona’s international network, accelerating the promotion of our art, our cultural economy, and our future.”

“It has never happened before,” noted Virginia Villa, Director of the Violin Museum, “that an instrument by Antonio Stradivari belonging to a public Italian collection was exhibited in Korea. The ‘Vesuvio’ will be an extraordinary ambassador of Cremona, of the Museum, and, I believe, of Italy itself. It is always exciting to open and strengthen channels of dialogue in the name of culture and beauty. Cremona offers its heritage—a five-century-long history and a present devoted to preservation, promotion, research, and understanding of a legacy that now belongs to the whole world.”

“The exhibition on historical musical instruments in Seoul,” emphasized Professor Tomaso Vecchi, Vice-Rector for Institutional Affairs at the University of Pavia, “featuring the extraordinary presence of a violin by Antonio Stradivari, is rooted in the close scientific collaboration on Cultural Heritage that our university has long maintained with several Korean universities and research centers, as well as with important museum institutions such as the National Palace Museum. The University of Pavia is fully engaged in this collaboration, thanks also to the presence in Cremona of the Arvedi Laboratory—an international reference center for diagnostic and scientific studies on historical violins crafted by the greatest luthiers of the past.”