Experience Bongsan Talchum Yourself... Handok Hosts 'Human Cultural Asset Keeper Sharing Performance'

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Handok is recruiting participants for the ‘Human Cultural Asset Keeper Sharing Performance,’ where people can directly see and experience our traditional culture.

The Human Cultural Asset Keeper Sharing Performance is a social contribution activity that Handok has been steadily conducting since 2012 to promote the value and importance of traditional culture. This year, Handok plans to hold the sharing performance at the recently completed Handok Future Complex in Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, providing local residents with an opportunity to experience traditional culture.

The performance will be held at 2 p.m. on the 19th of next month at the Handok Future Complex. Master Kim Aeseon, the holder of National Intangible Cultural Property No. 17, Bongsan Talchum, will participate. Bongsan Talchum is a play that has been performed every year on the night of Dano and Hajit days for about 200 years. It is the most well-known mask dance among the mask dances distributed throughout Hwanghae Province. Compared to other mask dances, it is characterized by lively dance movements and the use of lion masks and hansam (long sleeves), making the movements spectacular.

Participants will watch the Bongsan Talchum performance by the human cultural asset and experience various activities related to Bongsan Talchum, such as mask drawing, listening to traditional musical instrument performances, and learning basic mask dance movements. There will also be time to view medicinal artifacts exhibited within the Handok Future Complex together with a curator from the Handok Medical Museum.

This performance is targeted at families with elementary school children. Anyone can apply regardless of whether they are residents of Gangseo-gu. Applications can be submitted on the Handok website until the 10th of next month. There is no participation fee. Selected participants will be contacted individually through a lottery.

Kim Youngjin, Chairman of Handok, said, “Watching the Bongsan Talchum performance in person will allow people to feel the fun and value of the traditional culture contained within it,” adding, “We will continue to strive to be a company that contributes to society by coexisting with the local community and helping our traditional culture to be passed on healthily.”

Since 2009, Handok has been conducting the ‘Human Cultural Asset Keeper’ activities to help human cultural assets carry out transmission activities in good health and to pass on the value of our fading traditional culture to the next generation. In cooperation with the Cultural Heritage Administration and 11 partner hospitals nationwide, Handok provides free comprehensive health checkups to human cultural assets aged 50 to 80 who receive medical benefits. They also conduct ‘participation yards’ and ‘sharing performances’ where people can discover the preciousness and value of our culture.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.