Asia, Land of Light and Sound
  • This section introduces reproduced contents of the booklet and CD for exhibition, 'Kim, Soo-Nam & Choi, Sang-il - Asia, Land of Light and Sound (6 to 29 July 2005, Seoul, Republic of Korea)'. Kim, Soo-Nam, documentary photographer representing the Republic of Korea, has started his profession as a photo journalist in Dong-A Ilbo and contributed to introduce the beauty of shamanistic and traditional culture of ethnic minorities by traveling everywhere in Asia. He never let the camera out of his hands till his last day in Chiang Rai in Thailand in 2006, next year of the exhibition. His enormous works still pass down Asia’s value to the world. Choi, Sang-il, who believes that ‘folk songs everywhere contain the unembellished thoughts and sentiments of their people’, has shown various broadcast programs, music albums, and books on folk song and music in Korean and Asia since his join to Munhwa Broadcating Company (MBC). Until now, he continues his contributions including recording diverse intangible cultural heritage and promoting it through excellent broadcast program such as ‘In Search of Our Sounds’. In recent, he received commendation from the president and Award for Professional Achievement in Producing. We express our gratitude to the families of the late Kim, Soo-Nam, and MBC producer Choi, Sang-il for allowing to make these precious collections available online, so that the beauty of living heritages in the Asia-Pacific will be better known to the world.
Miao of China Thai Golden Triangle Indonesia Bali, Indonesia Myanmar Kam (Dong) of China Sri Lanka The Philippines Ladakh, India Japan Okinawa, Japan Southwestern China Ladakh Mongolia Uzbekistan 
  • The mountainous region between Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos is the infamous golden triangle, where opium is produced. However, it is also a region where a large number of tribes live according to their respective cultures.

The Akha people have a tradition of dancing through the night on New Year’s Eve to chase away ground spirits. This is called bor-chong tu er, which means to hit the ground with bamboo instruments. The ritual continues for two days, in which young men and women perform the dance in the homes of those who have lent them the instruments and others who want their homes to be similarly inoculated. They go all around the yard and into the house to hit the floors with bamboo tubes.

The instruments they play include drums, small fiddles, and gongs. However, the most impressive is the bor-chong, a hollowed out bamboo tube measuring about fifteen centimeters in diameter and one meter in length. The tubes make grand and powerful sounds when many are struck simultaneously, making them ideal for mass dancing.

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