archive FY2024 ARCHIVE

[Application project]
Madang: The Square Where the People Conjure

[Applicant]
Madanggeuk Project

[Subsidy] 500,000 yen

[Overview]
Madanggeuk Project brings together artists, curators, and local communities from Japan, South Korea, and North Korea to collaborate on workshops, performance prototypes, and talk events related to Madang theater, thereby exploring its practical value in contemporary society. (In Korean and North Korean, “Madang” refers to a communal square in a local community.)
Since the 1980s, Madanggeuk in Japan has been performed in various forms within Korean communities in Japan—including the “Higashikujo Madang,” a festival held in Higashikujo, Kyoto, a neighborhood where many Korean residents live—and has addressed issues related to community, multicultural coexistence, and local concerns. However, little attention has been paid to the artistic and historical value of such Madanggeuk.
This project will primarily research the spirit and expressive forms of Madanggeuk in Kyoto. By creating collaborative spaces centered on workshops and performance prototypes, it also aims to present a new interpretation of the contemporary significance of Madanggeuk, which has long depicted the lives of ordinary people in both Japan and South Korea.

[Held / Implemented / Announced]

Workshop “Ma in the Madang” | August 25, 2024

<Venue> Kyoto City Multicultural Exchange Network Salon

<Number of participants> 15 people

Participation in Higashikujo Madang “Madang” | 3 November

<Venue> Former Toka Elementary School bldg., Kyoto

Post-performance talk | December 21

<Venue> honkbooks, Shinjuku, Tokyo

<Capacity> approx. 20 people

A scene from the “Ma in the Madang” workshop

[Outcome]

Madang theater, a performance form that carries on the tradition of Talchum—Korea’s traditional masked theater—developed primarily within the context of the popular culture movements of the 1960s through 1980s. Under the prolonged dictatorship of the military government, when freedom of expression was severely restricted, Madang theater, grounded in the belief that the people are the driving force of historical development, demonstrated a critical spirit that resisted the unjust powers that suppressed human equality and rights.

In this project, we researched the spirit and expressive forms of Madang theater in Kyoto. Through workshops, participants shared their gestures, words, and breath, creating a space where “Madang”—which takes on different meanings depending on the era, region, community, and individual—resonated with one another.

A scene from the “Ma in the Madang” workshop

Mai Endo and Akira Rachi, members of the Madanggeuk Project, participated in the 32nd Higashi-Kujo Madang as actors and filming crew. They not only experienced the process firsthand while actively supporting the event’s organization but also built relationships with the Higashi-Kujo Madang Executive Committee and staff. Rather than focusing solely on research, the Madanggeuk Project aimed to support part of the event’s practical operations in order to explore mechanisms for physically enacting history and to envision the future direction of the Higashi-Kujo Madang.

By creating a collaborative space through post-performance discussions, they presented a new perspective on the contemporary significance of Madang theater, which has long depicted the lives of ordinary people in both Japan and South Korea.

[Project Details]

Participating Artists: Mai Endo, Akira Rachi, Sojin Kwak, Hyangsuri Kim

Staff: Sanghae Kwon (management), Ji-won Yoo (accounting), Gyul Ko (production)

Design: Jialun Wang

Photography: Akira Rachi

Video Documentation: Sojin Kwak

Organized by: Madanggeuk Project

In cooperation with: HAPS, ROHM Theatre Kyoto

A scene from the “Ma in the Madang” workshop