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Third Asia Festival : New Zealand in Asia

The Third Asia Festival in New Zealand was held from March 23 to April 2, and it was my job to accompany the Seoul Performing Arts Company's samulnori team which was dispatched to participate in this event.

New Zealand is about one and a half times the size of Korea but with a population of just 4 million, and has a different historical background from other countries formed after the European discovery of the New World. The unfortunate history of many of these countries follows a pattern of European settlers encroaching on native lands, ensuing warfare between the two sides, and the inevitable massacre of much of the indigenous population.

In contrast, New Zealand was relatively peacefully settled with the signing of the Waitangi Treaty between British settlers and the native Maoris in 1840.
For 150 years, New Zealand was predominantly populated by growing numbers of Europeans and a small number of indigenous Maoris. But since the 1980s, Asian immigration has been steadily increasing, and with expanding trade with Asia has come a growing consciousness of New Zealand being part of Asia. The Asia Festival is designed to introduce the diverse cultures of Asia to New Zealanders in order to promote greater understanding of and closer ties with Asia. The Festival is held every two years and is organized by New Zealand? Asia 2000 Foundation and sponsored by related organizations including the Korea Foundation.

After a long, 12-hour flight to Auckland, the Korean team arrived in New Zealand on March 22. The country has some of the strictest regulations in the world regarding the import of agricultural goods, and all such items brought in without permission are immediately destroyed. We had been informed beforehand that any musical instruments made from animal skin would be subject to quarantine, but we had not worried too much about this. However, when we arrived at the airport, we were told that the troupe's buk and janggo drums, made of cowhide, had to be left overnight in quarantine. We had no choice but to leave the instruments. In the past, such quarantine procedures would have necessitated taking a small sample of the instrument, effectively rendering it useless. Fortunately, quarantine technology has improved greatly, but the experience gives you an idea of the thoroughness of New Zealand? quarantine inspections.

Rooted in its geographical location as an isolated island nation, New Zealand gives great weight to environmental conservation and ecological protection. The clean air and water and beautiful scenery throughout the islands have a lot to do with the fact that so few people live there, but it is also largely due to the New Zealanders?special consideration for the environment.

The Asia Festival opened on March 23 in New Zealand? largest city, Auckland. The seasons in New Zealand are the opposite of those in Korea, so while winter was turning to spring in Seoul, the late summer heat of the antipodes made Auckland quite warm. All told, 12 teams from nine countries participated in the Festival, including groups from China, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia. The audiences greeted all of the performances with loud applause, but it was Korea? samulnori team that surprisingly attracted the most attention.

Contemporary samulnori is a re-working of traditional rural Korean music to suit modern tastes. The harmony and resonance of metal and leather, the sense of peace and strength conveyed by alternating fast and slow tempos, the improvisational nature of the music that allows it to change according to mood of the p and the response of the audience, all make the musical form a kind of performance art that transcends cultural backgrounds and finds resonance with people all over the world.

Whenever the samulnori troupe began to play, people would quickly gather around and exclaim at the visual embellishments incorporated into the performance, such as twirling of the long sangmo ribbons attached to the hats of the ps, while others commented on the sheer energy of the music.
Though all the performances were unforgettable, the most memorable for me was the one held on Elliott Street. A typically narrow European-style street, the music resonated off the buildings, and as the sounds seemed to push and pull at each other, the street was turned into a sea of music. I had originally expected that the visual elements of the performance would be the most popular with Western audiences, but in fact it was the music itself that seemed to truly captivate them.

The Asia Festival was held over a period of two weeks with its major concerts held on weekends in Auckland, Wellington, and Christ-church, while individual teams visited smaller towns during the week. In addition to New Zealand? three main cities, the samulnori troupe performed in Napier-Hastings and Dunedin, where audiences responded with loud cheers and much enthusiasm.

The performance in Christchurch was held in conjunction with other events organized by the local Korean community, including a parade with traditional court costumes, a fashion show, and a food festival. Christchurch is the sister city of Songpa-gu, Seoul, and Korean performing troupes have visited the city in the past. As a result, the Korean community there was well prepared to organize the festivities.

In Auckland we met a group of Korean university students who performed traditional farmers?music, and saw how Koreans in different cities were seeking to introduce Korean culture to their communities. It was good to see that though they were making new lives for themselves in their adopted country, these immigrants had not forgotten their homeland.

The ive of the Asia Festival was best demonstrated in an elementary school workshop aimed at providing young students with the opportunity to hear the music of different Asian countries.

The workshop was preceded by classroom studies where students were given an introduction to the music they were about to hear. During the workshop, I gave an explanation of samulnori, which was followed by a 20-minute performance of the music. Afterward, the students were given an opportunity to try out the instruments for themselves.

Over the ten-day period, some 20 performances were held in five cities. It was a tiring schedule for the performers, but they forgot their fatigue with the enthusiastic response of the audiences and put their hearts into every performance. I felt fortunate to be with such talented musicians, and the success of each performance was made possible thanks to the efforts of the Asia 2000 Foundation staff, the coordinators at each venue, the Korean Embassy staff, and the local Korean communities.

As the world becomes a smaller place, it is now common to see foreigners throughout Korea. But just how much do we know about them? Sometimes, when I see newspaper stories about discrimination against foreigners, I wonder whether this is rooted in local ignorance of other cultures and history. The more we see of other cultures and the more contact we have with them, the closer and more familiar they will become. With the Asia Festival? theme ?ew Zealand in Asia?in mind, I kept thinking throughout the festival that Korea needs similar festivals to introduce other cultures to the Korean people so that they can gain a better understanding of other people from around the world.

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