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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Lake Sebu is a mountain lake and the center of the T’boli community in Mindanao Island, Philippines. The T’bolis celebrate festivals with a wide range of dance and music. They play an instrument called s’ludoy. Its strings are made from six strips of bamboo cut from one section and placed on a bamboo tube. The strings are fixed to the ends of the bamboo section and float above the middle portion where they are plucked. The Bugkalot people of Luzon Island have a similar instrument, called sembimalo. However, when the Bugkalot play the sembimalo, another player strikes the strings using a thin bamboo stick. Thus, the sembimalo is both a string and a percussion instrument. August to September in Mindanao is a time of splendor and plenty, with colorful fruits and tropical orchid blooms. This is when the five-day kadayawan festival takes place. Key to this celebration are traditional music and dance performed in the streets. The sight sand sounds are reminiscent of Brazilian samba. Across the town, women, both young and old, tribesmen in costumes, and girls with navel-baring tops dance to the accompaniment of various instruments such as the guitar-like hegelung, and long percussions made from logs.
