Haenam-gun’s ‘Jeolla Usuyeong Deulsori’ Wins Grand Prize at Korean Folk Arts Festival

Published 01 Nov.2022 09:29(KST)

Jeolla Usuyeong Dulsori Demonstration Scene (Photo by Haenam-gun)

[Haenam=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] ‘Jeolla Usuyeong Dulsori’ won the grand prize, the Presidential Award, at the 63rd Korean Folk Arts Festival.

According to Haenam County, at the Korean Folk Arts Festival held on the 29th, the Jeolla Usuyeong Culture and Arts Promotion Association participated as a representative of Jeonnam and achieved the great honor of winning the grand prize.

‘Jeolla Usuyeong Dulsori’ is a farming song sung by men while working in the rice paddies and fields. It consists of the sounds of plowing, rice planting, barley threshing, weeding, and jangwonjil (a traditional farming activity) sounds.

Originally passed down orally, a recording from 1968 was accidentally discovered, and since 2013, centered on the residents of Usuyeong, a preservation society for Jeolla Usuyeong Dulsori was formed and has been dedicated to restoration work.

As a male dulsori passed down in the southwestern coastal area, it has rarity value. It applies pansori techniques to dulsori, resulting in a brilliant melody, and prominently features musical structure by utilizing various ornaments (sigimsae) centered on pitch bends. It is characterized by localizing the sounds of the contemporary sadangpae (traditional performance troupes) and singing them.

In 2018, it also attracted attention as another folk cultural resource representing Usuyeong, the hometown of Ganggangsullae, by winning the grand prize at the 44th Jeonnam Folk Arts Competition.

The entire group consists of about 40 members including Chairman Park Gwi-man, with about 35 dulsori singers and 6 nongak (farmers' music) performers, and has been conducting preservation and transmission activities under the guidance of Damsso representative Teacher Lee Byung-chae.

A county official said, “The dulsori restored through the long efforts of Usuyeong residents has become an opportunity to be recognized for its nationwide preservation value,” and added, “We will continue to strive to broaden pride and understanding of disappearing traditional folk arts.”