Fwd: ARIRANG * A CANDY FACTORY PROJECT

Nov. 29, 2004

Type: discussion

Begin forwarded message:

> From: KOGO <[email protected]>
> Date: November 28, 2004 10:49:14 PM EST
> To: <[email protected]>
> Subject: ARIRANG * A CANDY FACTORY PROJECT
>
> ARIRANG *
> A CANDY FACTORY PROJECT
> http://www.trans.artnet.or.jp/~transart/
>
> Lyrics translated by YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES
> Music by TAKUJI KOGO
>
> "Arirang," the iconic, traditional Korean song of love and heartbreak,
> has
> been played and sung by musicians throughout Korea's modern history to
> express memory, sorrow, pride, and propaganda.
>
> The song, a national symbol for both North and South Korea,
> originated, some
> say, during the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910); others say it has existed
> since
> the Shilla Dynasty, more than 1,000 years ago.
>
> In 1926, "Arirang" became a hit as the theme song of the first Korean
> movie
> of the same title, which depicted the sorrow of Koreans living under
> Japanese rule. Ironically, even Japanese pop singers, beginning in the
> 1930s, created their own arrangements of the song. During the Korean
> War
> (1950-53), an American turned "Arirang" into a march to celebrate the
> heroism of the American-led United Nations forces.
>
> In 1985, the song was sung in Pyongyang by an art troupe from Seoul
> during a
> reunion of families separated since the Korean War. And in 2002, North
> Korea
> organized the Arirang Festival of gymnastics and art featuring 10,000
> performers, including students and young children, to celebrate the
> birthday
> of the nation's founder Kim Il-sung. It was also this secretive and
> cash-strapped country's first festival seeking to promote tourism and
> develop a new source of foreign currency.
>
> In the South, these days, "Arirang" is an unofficial national anthem
> that
> performers arrange into countless melodic or lyrical versions played
> in any
> kind of mode: pop, rock, folk, jazz, symphonic, even hip-hop.
>
>
> ONLINE *CANDY FACTORY PROJECTS
> http://www.trans.artnet.or.jp/~transart/
>
> OFF LINE
> media_city seoul 2004
> at the Seoul Museum of Art, December 15, 2004 to February 6, 2005.
> hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government
>