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| Actors perform a play titled "Impulse," created by local theatre group Momggol, representing the balance, tension and motion of daily life. The piece is scheduled for Cheonggye Plaza, downtown Seoul, on Saturday and Sunday evening. / Courtesy of Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Seoul Street Arts Festival is back. Theatre, dance and other contemporary art forms will unfold on the capital's streets from Thursday to Sunday.
Started in 2003 and now the city's biggest outdoor performing arts event, the four-day show is hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture (SFAC). The annual event is also known as the "Hi Seoul" festival, its former name that was replaced with the current name in 2015.
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| A preview of "Block," a fusion of dance and circus performed by a U.K.-based troupe, scheduled for Gwanghwamun Square on Friday and Saturday / Courtesy of Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture |
Forty-six different outdoor performances _ 17 by overseas troupes _ will take place in the streets of downtown Seoul, free of charge.
They will be at five venues: Seoul Plaza, Gwanghwamun Square, Sejong-daero (road), Donuimun Open Creative Village and Namsangol Hanok Village.
The main theme of this year's festival is "Unity in Differences." The theme will be explored in the opening program through performances like "Human Net," an aerial show of human bodies linked in rows and columns by Catalan urban theatre group La Fura dels Baus.
Kim Jong―seok, the artistic director of this year's festival, says the theme captures Seoul's multifaceted identity.
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| Actors stand half-submerged inside cubicles filled with water in this scene from "Muljil 2," a performance by a local interactive art group. "Muljil 2" will be performed on Saturday and Sunday evening at Gwanghwamun Square. / Courtesy of Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture |
"It represents the co-existence of different generations and diverse people of Seoul," he said in a press release. "Just like how we recognize and respect the unique traits and differences of others, we hope to create a festival where one can enjoy and connect with diverse art forms in the street."
Many of the planned performances fuse different art forms. "Block" combines dance and circus performed atop 20 tall block installations at Gwanghwamun Square. Another piece called "Fillage" _ a depiction of the interplay between circus artists and musicians involving a giant trampoline _ will be performed at Seoul Plaza during all four days of the festival.
A local ballet group will also perform a piece combining ballet, pansori (traditional Korean musical storytelling) and digital sounds.
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| Members of La Fura dels Baus, a Catalan urban theater group, hang mid-air in interlocked positions for the "Human Net" performance, a major part of the Seoul Street Arts Festival's opening program on Thursday and Friday. / Courtesy of Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture |
On the last day of the festival, a 500-meter-long section of Sejong-daero (road) stretching from Gwanghwamun Square to Seoul City Hall will be closed off to vehicles to create a venue for the closing program. Here, visitors will be able to see media art installations made with interviews of Seoul residents as well as a pyrotechnics theater spewing sparks.
The rest of the closing program will involve audience participatory events such as a mega-size paper domino parade and decorations on the closed road section using chalk and tape.
"The Seoul Street Arts Festival has become Korea's most representative performing arts festival," SFAC President Kim Jong-hwi said. "This year we again hope to create a diverse program list that allows active participation from citizens to create an autumn festival that family, couples and friends can all enjoy."
Visit festivalseoul.or.kr for more details and a timetable of the events.
