ALL
farmer
ICH Elements 16
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Nongak, community band music, dance and rituals in the Republic of Korea
Inscribed in 2014 (9.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Nongak is a fusion performing art genre that combines a percussion ensemble (with occasional use of wind instruments), parading, dancing, drama, and acrobatic feats. It has been practiced for various purposes, such as appeasing gods, chasing evil spirits and seeking blessings, praying for a rich harvest in spring, celebrating the harvest at autumn festivals, fund-raising for community projects, and professional entertainment. Any joyful community event was never complete without uproarious music and dance performed by the local band clad in colorful costumes. The resultant ecstatic excitement (sinmyeong) is often defined as a preeminent emotional characteristic of Korean people. The music frequently uses uneven beats of complex structures like simple three-time, compound time, and simple and compound time. Small hand-held gongs and hourglass drums, with their metal and leather sounds, play the main beats, while large gongs and barrel drums create simple rhythmic accents. The small hand-held drum players focus more on dancing than playing music. Dancing includes individual skill demonstrations, choreographic formations, and streamer dances. Actors wearing masks and peculiar outfits perform funny skits. Acrobatics include dish spinning and miming antics by child dancers carried on the shoulders of adult performers. Nongak was most often performed and enjoyed by grassroots people, but there were also professional groups putting on entertainment shows. In recent years, professional repertoires have evolved into the percussion quartet “Samul Nori” and the non-verbal theatrical show “Nanta,” dramatically emphasizing the music element and thereby appealing to broader audiences at home and from abroad.
South Korea 2014 -
MEHRGON, Idi hosilot
Traditional old festival of Iranian people, which is celebrated in the autumn. Mehrgon is considered as the harvest holiday of agriculture workers, gardeners, farmers and etc.
Tajikistan -
The Balai or Ulai Dance
The origin of the Balai or Ulai Dance is unclear. However, it is believed that it has settled in Terengganu about 300 years ago. The existence of this dance in the Bukit Gemuruh Village in Hulu Terengganu revolves around the story of a couple who were farmers namely Tok Jambul and his wife Tok Senik with their child. Whenever To Senik lullabied her child there was an invisible voice as if reciprocating her quatrain. The voice invariably reciprocated Tok Senik’s quatrain when she continued quatraining while working in the paddy field. One day Tok Jambul dreamt meeting a man that told him that a genie wanted to jolly with Tok Jambul’s wife. The man directed Tok Jambul to plant upright a number of the pulai tree trunk and to sprinkle chanted flour around the tree using banana leaf, as well as reciting mantras. Eventually his paddy grew as well as fertile and the invisible voice was nowhere. Originally this dance is related to appeasing the spirit of paddy and performed by young maiden of the Bukit Gemuruh Village. The dance is accompanied by songs portraying the farmers’ happiness after obtaining the produce. The dance movements picture the farmers doing paddy field works. Colourful umbrellas that signify the spirit of paddy are placed in the middle of the stage and the dancers dance encircling the umbrellas. Paddy planting equipment like hoe, paddy harvester, and the farmers’ hats are turned into props.
Malaysia -
The Music of Tumbuk Kalang
The farmers’ community assumes that the festive season is the harvesting season. At this time, they are in jolly mood because they obtain revenue from their own sweat poured into their paddy fields all these while. It has been normal that when every time paddy harvesting season approaches the farmers organise a paddy flaking festivity made merrier by a game of Tumbuk Kalang. Often this game is held house to house and lasts for a number of evenings. The musical instruments for the Tumbuk Kalang performance are a set of caklempong, gong, paddy pestles and hand-held drummettes.
Malaysia