Asia, Land of Light and Sound
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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.
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The people of Myanmar build structures shaped like palaces, decorated with silver and gold leaves in roadsides or empty lots near their homes to perform various rituals. Professional MCs and storytellers are hired for the ritual, accompanied by music performed by hsaing waing, a traditional Burmese music ensemble. King Hsinbyushin of eighteenth century Burma invaded Siam, successfully capturing many Siamese musicians, dancers, composers, and craftsmen and taking them to Burma. Thus, the music and culture of Burma were deeply influenced by Siamese traditions. The traditional hsaing waing ensemble consists of a wide range of instruments, including drum circles, gong circles, bamboo clappers, flutes, and cymbals. The large drum circle contains twenty-one drums while the small drum circle contains nine drums, hanging according to size. In the gong circle are nineteen hanging gongs. There are also larger drums played as independent instruments, not in a circle. The range of Burmese drums is varied, with each type of drum used in different types of events. The pot-shaped ozi and double-headed dobat are used in village festivals while the large bonzi are used when plowing the fields or during harvest festivals. Steamed rice and wood ash are mixed to form a dough that is stuck to the center of the drum to tune the instrument.
