AVONDPROGRAMMA The History of Korean Western Theatre - Jaha Koo / CAMPO

The History of Korean Western Theatre 
Jaha Koo / CAMPO
22 JAN, CAMPO victoria
 

In dit sluitstuk van zijn Hamartia-trilogie brengt de Zuid-Koreaanse theatermaker / componist Jaha Koo een intelligente documentaire theatervoorstelling over de clash tussen Oost en West, tradities en generatiekloven, zelfcensuur en authenticiteit. ZIjn vertrekpunt was het besef dat de Koreaanse theatertraditie voornamelijk bepaald is door het westerse canon. Jaha Koo onderzoekt hoe het zo ver is kunnen komen en tracht - met een nieuwe generatie Zuid-Koreanen in het vizier - een toekomst door te geven gesteund op een authentieke versie van de geschiedenis.   

Jaha Koo raakt, met veel voorzorg en zachtheid, de trauma's, geheimen en stiltes aan die geërfd zijn uit het koloniale verleden.
- Mouvement.fr
 

Uit een interview met Jaha Koo:

The History of Korean Western Theater is the last show of your Hamartia trilogy, that tells how a collective past influences the life of future generations. Why do you think the traditions of South Korea can be of interest for a European audience?

First of all, I think this is the time to start looking at the future. Because history always disregards us, but somehow we have to move forward.

At the same time, I didn’t want to put myself in the cultural (post-)colonial frame as an Asian. I wanted to think about a future and history that was independent and autonomous. But in order to do that, I had to clearly know the meaning and shape of this past that is behind us.

I also had to think about how Korean modernization started. It was a one-way modernization: Westernization. Which is completely related to Korea’s colonial history. Korea was modernized by Japan, that occupied many countries in Asia. It wasn’t an autonomous modernization. It was forced upon us. Therefore, Korean history is very complex. Our modern influences came from Europe, but they were passed to Koreans through the Japanese. When the Japanese colonial era ended, it were the US influences that started spreading in South Korean society.

I think it is this west-modernization that makes the severance between the past and the future. It has only one voice and one future - no diversity. Voices will not be diverse before provincializing Europe - a word borrowed from Dipesh Chakrabarty’s book. It means that the future will not be autonomous. That’s the reason I want to share this work with a European audience. 

Are music and visuals arts important in your work?

Yes, very important. Honestly, I don’t describe myself as a theatre director or actor. I’m a theatre maker, music composer and video maker. I spend most of time behind my computer: doing research for my project, making music, writing a text, making video work, etc. It means that I need a stage but the stage work is not my first task. I use my theatre performance to make relations between the material I create. That’s why I need a stage. Therefore, I indeed think that my main performance languages are music and video. They are fundamental in my work.

CREDITS

concept, tekst, regie, muziek & video Jaha Koo performance Jaha Koo, Seri & Toad dramaturgie Dries Douibi scenografie & tekeningen Eunkyung Jeong artistiek advies Pol Heyvaert  techniek Korneel Coessens, Emiel Hernalsteen, Jan Berckmans & Philippe Digneffe hardware hacking Idella Craddock research Eunkyung Jeong & Jaha Koo research assistent Sang Ok Kim interview Jooyoung Koh, Kiran Kim & Kyungmi Lee productie CAMPO coproductie Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussel), Münchner Kammerspiele, Frascati Producties & Veem House for Performance (Amsterdam), SPRING performing arts festival (Utrecht), Zürcher Theaterspektakel, Black Box teater (Oslo), International Summer Festival Kampnagel (Hamburg), Tanzquartier Wien, wpZimmer (Antwerpen), Théâtre de la Bastille (Paris) & Festival d’Automne à Paris residenties Kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk), wpZimmer (Antwerpen), Decoratelier Jozef Wouters (Brussel), Doosan Art Center (Seoel) met de steun van Beursschouwburg, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie & Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst

Meer weten over Jaha Koo?
Terug naar de overzichtspagina.