Evolution of Traditional Dance Culture the Case of Hahoe Mask Dance in Andong, Korea
Research in Dance and Physical Education https://doi.org/10.26584/RDPE.2018.12.2.2.55 2018. Vol. 2, No. 2, 55-61
Evolution of Traditional Dance Culture The Case of Hahoe Mask Dance in Andong, Korea
Doo-Hyun Kwon (Gyeongbuk Culture Foundation, Korea) ･ Soon-Jeong Cho* (Sangmyung University, Korea)4)
Although many traditional Korean cultures have been designated as cultural assets, the representative cultural heritage that continuously produces cultural value is Hahoe-tal(mask) and Hahoe Byulsingut Mask Play. Both passed down from Hahoe-dong, Andong City, have become a representative cultural resource of Andong City, and, beyond the village, as one of the representative cultural brands of Korea. This article examines the cultural activities conducted through the Hahoe-tal and Hahoe mask dance in the Andong area, and examines the factors that have established itself as a representative brand in Korea.
Key word: mask, mask dance, cultural heritage, cultural assets
The Rise of Hahoe-tal and Hahoe Mask Dance In 1980, the Hahoe mask dance(was designated as the National Intangible Cultural Property No.69 under the name of ‘Hahoe Byulsingut Mask Play’ in Korea. Since then, Hahoe mask dance has raised the value and its status through various national cultural events and invitational performances abroad. Since 1997, Since 1997, the Hahoe mask dance performance has started in Hahoe Village and, as of the end of 2017, there are 2320 performances, 2,800 spectators, and 54 foreign performances in 17 countries In 1997, the Andong International Mask Dance Festival (hereinafter referred to as the Mask Dance Festival) begins with a motif of Hahoe Mask dance. The success of the festival increased its cultural stance and value and greatly helped to enhance the quality of related cultural contents
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In this process, a variety of cultural products utilizing the design and brand of Hahoe-tale and Hahoe-dancing are created, with various artists producing numerous performances using motifs of mask and mask dance. Hahoe World Mask Museum and multiple mask handcraft workshops were built, and the official training center for Hahoe Byulsingut Mask Play was established, where training of Hahoe dance drama continued and therefore, its competitiveness as a tourism resource has been strengthened through the regular performances and events.
From Performances to Local Community Culture The Andong International Mask Dance Festival is a major cultural event that has expanded the value of Hahoe-tal and mask dance. The Mask Dance Festival has consistently upgraded the culture of Hahoe mask dance because it actively utilized the brand of Hahoe-tal and dance in the process of initiating, implementing, and promoting the festival. Also, the success of the Mask Dance Festival naturally raised the cultural value of the Hahoe mask dance. The Masked Dance Festival, which started in 1997, was selected as the best festival in 2000-2008 by Ministry of Culture and Tourism Korea and has been recognized as representative festival system since then. The biggest contribution of the mask dance festival is that it encouraged the residents of Andong continue to educate and maintain their talents in mask dance. For example, the movements of Hahoe mask dance were formalized and recorded, and the textbooks were made and distributed to the community members. In addition, various contests allowed the students to enjoy the creative use of the dance. Plenty of masked dance themed media contents have been created and many experiential events and products for the general public have been made using Hahoe-tal. As a result, Hahoe-tal and dance have been established and branded as a representative community culture of Andong city. It is also a big achievement that the local community culture of Hahoe-tal and dance were internationalized through the Mask Dance Festival. Through the Mask Dance Festival, numerous partnership agreements were made with the cities around the world, including Timpu(Bhutan), Danai(Thailand), Surakarta (Indonesia), Kamakura (Japan), Corinth(Greece), and Whisen (Germany). One of the factors contributing to the success would be the tradition and excellence of the Hahoe-tal and dance. The cultural value as well as the dramatic features of Hahoe-tal and dance led and evolved into the brand effect of ‘Hahoe’ in the festival Secondly, tal(mask) is a universal culture of the world, shared by human kind irrespective of where they live; there is no culture, country, or area without certain kind of masks. Each region has inherited
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its original, traditional masks and has been developing new forms as well. As a result, the Masked Dance Festival was able to procure a variety of distinctive festival contents every year Another factor to consider is that it is a cultural mechanism that enables various unique design and easy creation. The creator shapes and designs with his or her own personality. They can change the face of the mask, ranging from masks covering the head to the ones covering the whole body, producing diverse images. In this regard, rich imagination is more important than special skills when making masks. In addition, amateurs do not have much difficulty in making masks. For example, in European carnivals, residents apply their own personality when creating their own masks, revealing their characteristics, which makes people more enjoyable. The participants do not need professional skills; they only need some imagination to enjoy the festival. In this way, the more unique the masks appearing in the festival, the more complete the festival contents. The fourth factor will be the metamorphosis function and masks can perform. On wearing a mask, people can be transformed to the character represented in the mask. As a result, they participate in the festival as a transferred character manifested by the mask, rather than as the person in reality. By embodying what they imagine through creating masks, and by wearing them, they are transformed into a different being when participating in the festivals, so that they experience great excitement, feeling of escape from reality, which is the essence of the festivals. Masks appear in most festivals around the world. Regardless of the theme of the festival, the sense of immersion into festivals can be intensified as a result of transitional function of mask. Therefore, the experience that participants can have through Mask Dance Festival with the central theme of mask and dance, can be even more enhanced. Another aspect of the success factor of the mask dance festival is a dance. Hahoe mask dance gives a dramatic dialogue full of sarcasm and humor, but in harmonized dances. Dances serve as an element strengthening solidarity and community spirits among the participants, which is one of the main purposes of Korean traditional festivals. Dances made it easy for the community members to participate in the mask dance festival. They can easily participate in dance among various activities such as traditional performances and dramas. Dance was the easiest way to participate is the festival. In this regard, anybody can easily learn Hahoe mask dance due to its simple, ordinary movements. This common character of dance, accompanied with a slightly modern element, was used in The Mask Dance Festival to spread to the public, gaining great popularity
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Hahoe-Tal reborn with various cultural performances In the traditional society, Hahoe mask dance was carried out in the Hahoe Village Festival. The casting team would select the appropriate cast among the village residents and train them for 15 days from the end of December. As a result, Hahoe dance was a kind of garden play which was mainly composed of the improvised lines and actions that the villagers made, and it was characterized by the Korean traditional rhythms and movements. Since 1990, the performances have been created under the theme of Hahoe-tal and dance but further escaped from its traditional character of gut, a shaman ritual and the formality of traditional Korean theater which was limited to the male characters and certain ages and classes. As a result the emotions and consensus enjoyed by men and by class and age are added to the characteristics of modern civilization, which can be recognized as a positive effect.
International networks of mask culture Through the Mask Dance Festival, mask has been recognized as one of the universal cultures shared by mankind, which provided the rationale to connect various cultures of the world by utilizing the cultural value related to the masks and the International Mask Art & Culture Organization (IMACO) has been established under the initiative of Andong city. Since its establishment in 2006, the members has been sharing cultural information related to the masks through the network. IMACO has held annual World Mask Culture Forum sharing knowledge and information related to mask culture in each country or region. Also it has initiated visualization of the cultural value of the masquerade by exhibiting the masques traditionally handed down by different cultures of the world. Therefore, The World Mask Exhibition, has been held 21 times, with the host cities(or countries) including Timpu, Bangkok, Gyeongju (World Culture Expo), Shanghai, and Kirikizstan. IMACO's current focus is on archiving cultural content. In addition to the culture of postcolonial culture in Korea, it also researches and analyzes cultural and other cultural contents from all over the world, and shares information through archival works with the hope that Andong can be established as a mecca of world mask (dance) culture. It is meaningful in terms of future - oriented utilization of traditional culture, expanding and reproducing the value of cultural heritage.
Changes and Utilization of Hahoe Mask Dance It is worth noting that there is not just a single type of the traditional mask handed down in Hahoe
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Village. Each of the 11 mask traditions has a specific identity, hierarchy or occupation in the traditional society. This suggests that the purpose of the production was to have already produced the story in mind at the planning stage. In addition, Hahoe-tal is a character that expresses the simplification of the categorized human type of traditional society. For example, in the case of Yangban(nobleman)-tal, it is not an personalized individual being, but a man who refers to a socially categorized and generalized class. Therefore, satire and humor which are dramatically expressed do not cause an animosity, but gain a kind of consensus. Although all masks serve these functions, the outstanding feature of Hahoe-tal is that it greatly enhances dramatic atmosphere of theater and increase the flow toward the performance. For example, in the stage of conflicts between Yangban(nobleman) and Sunbee(scholar) to gain the attention of the Bune(ordinary woman), the eyes of Bene-tal are looking at Sunbee while she is dancing with Yangban. (Bune’s eyes are carved to look at the side without staring at the front.) Naturally, the formative nature of these masks makes the performance even more dramatic and strengthens the artistry and social satire of the play. Hahoe dances are accompanied by costumes, actions, movements, and lines that are appropriate for each character manifested by the mask, maximizing the dramatic effect of the character. Through Andong International Mask Dance Festival, Hahoe mask dance has more evolved and the tradition of Hahoe mask dance was restored and designated as a cultural property. In addition, the fact that Andong International Mask Dance Festival was held as part of the Korean tourism policy combined with Hahoe mask dance selected as cultural assets suggests the significant influence of government policy in the process of evolution of traditional culture.
Creating and Maintaining a sustainable cultural values There are several aspects which enable Hahoe-tal and dance to keep and evolve its cultural value in this contemporary society. The first factor is its timeless value of as cultural assets and artworks. Secondly, it is a complementary relationship between Haho-tal and Hahoe mask dance. Hahoe-tal is a sculpture designed as a character and Hahoe dance is a performance, which means, without the mask, Hahoe mask dance cannot be possible. Hahoe mask dance makes the already created character by Hahoe-tal through the performances more interestingly. For example, Yangban presents the image of the nobleman more clearly by distinguishing it through the mask and costumes accompanied with actions and lines, distinguished from Sunbi or Bene. Compared to other cultural heritages, the complementarity of the two cultural properties is evident. For example, if a Seowon(Korean traditional lecture hall) designated
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as a cultural asset exists only as a building, it is no different from an architectural heritage. However, if an educational program is held in that place, the social expectations can be changed. To be a sustainable cultural assets, the content should be reproduced so that its values can be expanded according to the times. The third consideration is that both the Hahoe-tal and the Hahoe mask dance have a story. Hahoe-tal has a myth of Huh dongryeong (Bachelor Huh), and Hanoe mask dance has a dramatic story of satirizing the society. Fourth, it should be considered that Hahoe-tal and Hahoe dance both have excellent cultural heritages that can be re-created by design as well as character. In the case of Hahoe-tal, it has been reproduced as countless cultural products and served as design patterns in public areas, tourism souvenirs, Korea's representative emblems, and character designs. Hahoe mask dance has also expanded its value as a Korean traditional intangible cultural heritage, Korea's representative traditional performances, various character formations, and cultural festivals. With a distinctive identity of cultural heritage, their features that can be easily understood, easily applied are the greatest advantage. It is almost the only case that traditional cultural heritage has been made as a successful festival in modern Korean society. Designed as a cultural product, it has become a representative brand in Korea. Even though they have benefited from the national policy of the Cultural Properties Protection Act, it is clear that all national treasures are not socially branded. In this regard, "sustainable cultural value" that Hahoe traditional mask and dance culture has maintained and evolved should be recognized and aspired to.
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Received: October 31, 2018 Reviewed: November 29, 2018 Accepted: December 20, 2018
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