Nomadic Plaza

A tent village comes to the banks of the river Spree, in the heart of the Tiergarten. “Nomadic Plaza” offers a panorama of Korean traditions. Performances of rituals supposed to ensure both a long life and a good afterlife as well as mask dances in which the village calls for a rich harvest give an impression of the Shamanists’ conception of the world.

The performances are flanked by wooden statues of protective deities. Ink drawings reveal the close relationship between meditation and rapid movement. The artist uses powerful brush strokes to convey the Dance beauty of body lines. Wood and stone engravings as well as pottery show refined and rural craftwork. Bowls and jugs - not finely fashioned porcelain, but rough, dynamic peasant crockery - will be made in a tent pottery. And tightrope walkers - the village entertainers of yore which also tell jokes and sing - dance to traditional music.

Dance + Performance

Mansudaetak-Gut
(Schaman Ceremony)
Daily from 4 – 6 p.m.

Mansudaetak-Gut is a shaman ritual celebrated to avert disaster and to ensure a family’s good health and prosperity, as well as peace and solidarity in the village. The ritual also asks that the country’s government enjoy a peaceful period in office. The ritual asks for a long life in this world and a good one in the beyond. The word “good” assumes a further meaning when one includes the wishes of participants in the performance and the festival. Kim Kyunhwa is one of the most renowned shamans in Korea. He has frequently performed in the USA, Europe and Asia.

Performers
Seohaeanpungeoje Kim keumhwa Kim Kyunghwa Kim Kakun kim Dongho Kim Hyekyoung Park Sungmi Bang Sangkyun You kwangsu Lee Soonae Jeon Soonpil Cho Hwanghoon

Jultagi
(Tightrope Walking)
Daily at 3.30 and 6.30 p.m.

Jultagi is a traditional performance in which the tightrope dancer – a kind of “tightrope clown” – performs, from his high position, complex sequences of movements that demand great dexterity. He is accompanied by traditional Korean instruments such as the piri (a cylindrical oboe with a double reed), the daegum (a large flute), the haegum (a two-string fiddle), and the changgo (and hourglass drum). With his Jultagi performances, tightrope dancer Kim Daekyun has become one of the most important creative artists in Korea. On the tightrope, he sings, presents anecdotes and dances with great artistic skill.

Performers
Association for Preservation of Jultagi - Kim Daek-yun, Yoo Yeon-gon, Nam Pil-bong. Kim Jong-sup, Ryu Sang-chul, Kim Seon-mi

Hahoe Pyolshin-Gut T’al-Nori
(Mask Dance Drama)
Daily at 3 and 6 p.m.

Hahoe Pyolshin-Gut T´ al-Nori is an extensive ritual involving mask dances designed to bring the village peace and provide an abundant harvest. In the olden days, the ritual was not only celebrated to ask the gods for their blessing, but also to recall the lies at the court of the nobility and the scholars, to criticise religious affairs and to present human joys and sufferings in a satirical manner. This Korean mask dance drama became well known through countless performances in France, England, Japan and other countries.

Performers
Hahoe Mask Dance Drama Preservation Society : Ryoo Dong-chul, Lee Sang-ho, Kim Choon-taek, Lim Hyung-kyoo, Son Sang-rak, Kwon Tae Gyung, Kim Jong-heung Hwang Young-ho, Yoon Hang-soo, Lim Jae-sun, Kwon Kyoun-geun, Shin Jun-ha, Seo Bong-kyo, Kim Oh-joong, Son Yeon-gae

Arts and Crafts

Exhibitions + Presentations
Exhibitions at 3 – 7 p.m.
Presentations at 3 – 7 p.m. and 6 – 6 p.m.

Jeongak and Sumuk Sketches
(Seal engraving and sketches in Chinese ink)

Since the dawn of humanity, symbols have been carved in wood and stone. Jeongak is one of the oldest forms of human art and involves the early art of forming materials and the worldview of the Korean people. The artist Choi Kyuil has established the art of engraving (originally viewed simply as a signature) as a new genre and presents a unique method of engraving. He also presents the beauty of the human body in sketches done with powerful and rapid brushstrokes executed in Chinese ink.

Artist
Choi Kyuil, No Myung-sook (assistant)

Maksabal
(ceramic art)

In comparison with fine seladon and white porcelain, maksabal is a rather rough and simple natural ceramic material. Through its form, it embodies the joys and sufferings of the Korean people. Where Chinese and Japanese potters tend to have a conscious rational approach to creating their ceramics, the Koreans are guided mainly by instinct and intuition. The artist Kim Youngmoon also follows this traditional approach and creates natural and lively ceramics, without recourse to any sophisticated tricks, at a speed unknown to us in Europe.

Artist
Kim Young-moon, Ko Sun-ley (assistant)

Jangseung
(wood carving)

Jangseung sculptures of wood and stone – totems – used to be erected at village entrances to keep evil spirits and sicknesses away from village inhabitants. They also served as boundary stones. These sculptures, which took protective deities as their model, are normally done in the form of a male or female couple. They bear the inscriptions of god’s names and were formerly used for other folk ceremonies too. The symmetrical works made by the artist Shin Myungduk reflect the inimitable splendour of Korean wood craftsmanship. In addition to their being fine works of craftsmanship, the Jangseungs exhibited here will also request that the events turn out a success.

Artist
Shin Myung-duk, Park Jong-seon (assistant)

Presented by the Asia-Pacific Weeks, supported by Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin (DKLB).