Sori Academic Forum

2024 Sori Festival’s new program, “Sori Academic Forum,” will be held in collaboration with academic associations and research institutes related to Korean traditional arts. This program is designed to raise awareness of the current status and challenges of traditional arts through collaboration between the performing arts world and academia. This year, the Korean Pungmulgut Society, the Society for Dance Documentation & History, the Pansori Society, the Society of Korean Folk Songs, and the Center for Intangible Culture Studies will discuss the current status and challenges of local traditional arts, with a focus on Jeonbuk State.

Current Status and Future of Folk Song Research in Jeonbuk Region

Jeollabuk-do, the “home of the pungryu,“ is a birthplace of several traditional art forms including pansori, minyo, nongak, and dances. Among the traditional performing arts of Jeollabuk-do, pansori has been revitalized through world-class festivals such as Jeonju International Sori Festival and Jeonju Daesaseuppnori, and has been studied from various perspectives by numerous literaries, musicologists, and performance theorists. In the case of nongak, stylistic variations of Namwon, Iri (Iksan), Jeongeup, Gochang, Gimje, and Buan have been designated as a national or Jeonbuk State’s intangible cultural heritage and are being actively transmitted with support. In contrast, folk songs of the region have received less administrative support and academic research. The Executive Committee of Jeonju International Sori Festival and Korean Folk Song Society will try to review the current situation of Jeollabuk-do’s folk songs as part of a ”local culture“ and explore ways to develop them as a ”cultural heritage of the future.“