Project 04
KONGJWI PATJWI / 콩쥐팥쥐
KOREAN TRADITIONAL FOLKTALE
ART DIRECTOR_ YOON JUNG KIM
CHOREOGRAPHER / PERFORMER_ JI HYUN KIM
COMPOSER_ EJ JEONG
PHOTOGRAPHER_ DONG MIN PARK
VIDEOGRAPHER_MINAM KIM
MANAGER_ JIN LEE
We reinterpreted the Korean folktale of Cinderella in a modern way with traditional Korean wardrobes, handmade by a Hanbok designer who we collaborated with. Containing the thoughts of our ancestors about good and evil with minimal movements and symbolic objects. The contrast between good and evil is emphasized with complementary colors. The two characters are emphasized through interpretations and expressed through simple and modern movements. As a mini-project series, we aim to continuously link other Korean folktales in the future.
Once upon a time, in a traditional Korean village, there lived a couple and their daughter KongJwi. But KongJwi’s mother passed away shortly after giving birth to KongJwi. After her mother’s passing, Kongjwi had a new sister (PatJwi) and stepmother. Greedy and always grumpy, her stepmother always made KongJwi do her hard work.
Scene 1: HoeMi
One day, the stepmother gave KongJwi a HoeMi (wooden hoe) and told her to dig up the field and she could not come home until the task was finished. But the HoeMi broke due to the amount of gravel in the field. In distress of finishing the task, a black cow showed up to help Kongjwi and she was able to go home.
Scene 2: Byeo
A few days later, the village was having a party. The stepmother and PatJwi beautifully dressed, told KongJwi she can come to the village party if she milled the vast Byeo (rice plant) field and filled the HangAri (a traditional jar) with water. With a stroke of luck, a flock of sparrows flew over the fields and helped mill the rice with their beaks, quickly picking up five rice island fields.
Scene 3: HangAri
Time and time again, KongJwi filled the HangAri (a traditional jar) with water but it was not filling up. She was not aware that the stepmother put a hole on the bottom of the HangAri. With another stroke of luck, a toad showed up and blocked the hole with its body in the HangAri. Because of this, it could be filled with water.
Scene 4: Kotshin
After finishing the tasks the stepmother gave KongJwi to do, she ran to the party but lost her KotShin (traditional Korean shoes). By chance, the village president found the KotShin searched for its owner. Everyone in the village tried the KotShin but it only fit KongJwi. Falling in love at first sight, KongJwi and the village president lived happily ever after.
ENDING
GALLERY