Walter Byongsok Chon, Assistant Professor of Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies, publishes his article “Searching for the Origin of the Korean Wave: The Nanhee’s Mimaji!” in the online global theatre journal The Theatre Times. This article is about the premiere production of Mimaji!, written and directed by Myung-Wha Kim, and produced by the theatre company The Nanhee.
Excerpt from the Article:
“The Korean theatre company The Nanhee premiered its new production Mimaji!, written and directed by Myung-Wha Kim, at Bom Studio Theatre in Seoul, Korea, on November 26, 2020.
Mimaji is the name of the Korean artist from Baekje, one kingdom of the Three Kingdoms of Korea period (57 BC to 668 AD), alongside Goguryeo and Silla. He is credited with introducing kiak, a Buddhist masked dance processional, to the Japanese Court in 612, and thus initiating the “Korean wave (hallyu)” about 1,400 years before the term was coined. . . .
With the recent international success of Korean culture – the film Parasite (2019) becoming the first foreign film to win the Best Picture Award at the 92nd Academy Awards, the K-pop band BTS becoming an international phenomenon, K-food, and K-drama, to name a few – the exploration of the origin of the Korean wave is timely and can place the recent Korean wave in a historical context. The trajectory from Mimaji to Parasite and BTS, and the numerous Korean cultural and artistic exports in between and still upcoming, not only marks the remarkable artistic and cultural accomplishments throughout Korean history but also affirms the Korean maxim, ‘What is most Korean is what is most global.’ . . . “
This article also includes an interview with Myung-Wha Kim.
Link to the article:
https://thetheatretimes.com/searching-for-the-origin-of-the-korean-wave-the-nanhees-mimaji/
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20210103011559876