Dreaming of a 21st Century-Style Urban Street Arts Festival
[K-festival Directors] Interview with Kyu CHOI, Artistic Director of Ansan Street Arts Festival
"Why the street?" "What is the meaning of the Ansan city space, and how can we express and even transform this through festival?" These are the biggest questions that were posed by Mr. Kyu Choi right after he was appointed as the artistic director of Ansan Street Arts Festival in October 2012. After starting with the Chuncheon International Theatre Festival in 1993, Mr.Choi worked with the Chuncheon International Mime Festival for fifteen years, evectually serving as a secretary-general and then deputy artistic director. In 2005 he founded AsianNow, an independent performing arts production company, developing and presenting contemporary physical theatre. In short, he has been very active in a variery of areas. Recently Kyu started his job as the artistic director of Ansan Street Arts Festival, facing new challenges in this new workplace. Meanwhile, many people look forward to what he could achieve. That is because his knowledge, interest and vision regarding the performing arts scene are very concrete, as the different stages he has gone through suggest. While the 10th anniversary of Ansan Street Arts Festival is approaching, the Festival started dreaming of a brand new street art event with Mr. Choi.
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The poster of the Ansan Street Arts Festival 2013 |
Q : After working as a voluntary interpreter during Chuncheon International Theatre Festival, you served as the secretary-general and assistant artistic director of Chuncheon International Mime Festival. Afterward, you were selected as the new artistic director of Ansan Street Arts Festival. There may be some exceptions but it is actually rare to see a festival artistic director who has built his or her career in this field step by step like you. Since you have a deep understanding of the performing arts scene, no wonder many people look forward to what you could achieve in this new position.
A : The Ansan Street Arts Festival is organized by Ansan Cultural Foundation. This Festival, which directly meets citizens, is larger than any other event hosted by the Foundation and Ansan city. Plus, the Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. So it is true that I feel a burden because it is time for the event to usher in a turning point (laughs). What is the most important is to meet the needs of the Festival staff, artists, the audience and even the government in a balanced way. If the focus is too much on the government needs, the Festival could focus entirely on tourism. On the other hand, if the Festival excessively concentrates on the audience, it would be just an entertaining event. Meanwhile, a festival focused on artists would be comparable to a party prepared only for them. So I have been thinking about how to organize a balanced festival and, at the same time, a festival highlighting each artist''s own characteristics plus the special characteristics of Ansan. I am afraid that if you only seek balance and harmony, a festival can lose its specific identity. I feel like the Ansan city government would like to build on my own hands-on activity in the festival scene, as well as the wide range of experience with artist-in-residence, international networking and international co-production that we have developed through AsiaNow. What concerns me most is how to express what is unique about Ansan and the Ansan city space through a festival that incorporates the needs of the people of Ansan, the work of the artists involved, and the legitimate expectations of the Ansan city government. I hope my role will be to help from the vision of this festival as a unique event. I believe that this is how I can differentiate this Festival from others.
Q : The Ansan Street Arts Festival, which will celebrate its 9th anniversary this year, seems to have entered a maturing stage. In your view, what is the current characteristics and limits of the Ansan Street Arts Festival?
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A : Gyeonggi Province alone has four street art festivals: Gwacheon Festival and Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Theatre Festival have turned to street art. There are also Goyang Lake-Park Arts Festival and of course, Ansan Street Arts Festival. Asking myself what could differentiate Ansan Street Arts Festival, I analyzed its past programs. From 2005 to 2008, the Festival offered small-scale performances that the audience can enjoy on the street such as busking, mime and clowning. From 2008 to 2009, the concept of "street theatre" was adopted in earnest and major international performances were invited to Ansan and the venue was changed to Ansan Cultural Square. It was the true beginning of a street theatre festival. Since then, what has been positive about the Festival is that it has kept the concept of street theatre intact and it has been an event for the citizens of Ansan. But what is regrettable is the fact that it could have differentiated itself from other events more. In other words, the Festival lacks activities highlighting Ansan''s new characteristics. In fact these are also the activities Ansan City expects. |
| Kyu CHOI, Artistic Director of Ansan Street Arts Festival |
A : I worked in Chuncheon before. Chuncheon has beautiful spaces for a festival; people come to the city ready to enjoy. In contrast, Ansan is a planned city surrounded by industry. Also, many of its citizens commute to Seoul. Would it be possible to enjoy a festival in this industrialized city? Then, should I try to hide or emphasize the industrial aspect of the city? Reflecting on these questions, my major challenge to meet has been to make an urban festival possible. Second, I was also concerned about what would differentiate the Festival from other events. Would the Festival be filled only with street theatre? If the Festival only invites foreign performances without telling any story of Ansan and without producing any new street theatre performances, how would the Festival highlight the characteristics of Ansan? These were also the questions I asked myself. Lastly, I thought that it would be necessary to bring changes to the system of festival organization. Most festivals are focused on their artistic director and have a hierarchical structure of staff selecting and producing performances. In this context, I believe that it is necessay to have a festival system that is a bit different from the current one.
A : I worried about if Ansan could serve as the venue of a street theatre festival. I worked in Chuncheon before. Chuncheon is great for a festival; people come to the city to enjoy the festival so the audience''s attitude is different. In contrast, Ansan is a planned city and many of its citizens commute to Seoul. Would it be possible to enjoy a festival in this industrialized city? Then, should I try to hide or emphasize the industrial aspect of the city? Reflecting on these questions, my major challenge to meet has been to make an urban festival possible. Second, I was also concerned about what would differentiate the Festival from other events. Would the Festival be filled only with street theatre? If the Festival only invites foreign performances without telling any story of Ansan and without producing any new street theatre performances, how would the Festival highlight the characteristics of Ansan? These were also the questions I asked myself. Lastly, I thought that it would be necessary to bring changes to the system of festival production. Most festivals are focused on their artistic director and have a hierarchical structure of staff selecting and producing performances. Moreover, the cities where these festivals are held have emphasized the festivals'' role of "cultural tourism" in an attempt to make the events successful. In this context, I believe that it is necessary to have a festival system that is a bit different from the current one.
Q : Despite these worries, you have accepted the job because you have a vision for what you can attempt to do in Ansan. What is your specific plan and how are you preparing this year''s Festival?
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A : How would an urban space be transformed into an enjoyable place where people can be free from their daily routine for a while? Asking myself this question, I decided to start from the concept of "space" rather than that of "street theatre." That is because the genre of street theatre should be able to be communicated to the audience by means of the spatial communication tool which is the street. In particular, Ansan has many spaces that are losing their true meaning. In other words, these spaces haven''t been formed with their own stories but they are just partitioned commercial spaces. What elements of these spaces could serve as story materials? I basically think that the Festival could embrace not only street theatre but also other genres using spaces including music, fine art and media art. Second, in many cases, performing arts festival fail to tell a story focused on a specific theme. So I thought that changing the festival system is about finding a better way of telling a story under a certain theme. |
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Q : Many changes seem to be coming during such a short period of time. The changes in the festival organization particularly draw attention.
A : When I see younger friends at workshops and lectures for festival managers, they say that their biggest problem is the fact that after working five to seven years, there is nowhere to go. They can neither go up nor go down. Nothing is guaranteed. So I made a creative producer system to give opportunities at least through this festival. In addition, two of our festival staff have become producers as well, working on the program with me. I believe that helping to nurture these talents is also the role of a festival artistic director. I have been lucky and I have personally gone through different stages smoothly but such a case is very rare. That is why I am excited to provide chances to others.
Q : I think that Ansan Street Arts Festival, which started in 2005, is the first event to deal with street theatre. But Korean street art still has limits and weaknesses. It is true that today, many Korean festivals present street art but their willingness to further develop the genre seems to be still weak.
A : You''re right. Street theatre has grown as festivals such as the Gwacheon Hanmadang Festival(today: Gwacheon Festival) and the Chuncheon International Mime Festival has grown, particularly since the autonomous local government system was launched in Korea 1995, at least in part as a way to re-vitalize cities. These festivals need content to present. As a result, the driving force has been less the spontaneous development of street art as a Korean art form, but more that artists have been encouraged to work in street art because of the festivals'' needs. It''s as if the cart is pulling the horse rather than the other way around. Although we applaud the growth of street art in Korea, less positive results of the system that has developed are that street arts aren''t recognized as a genre and that basic activities aren''t guaranteed for artists. In addition, street performances are typically free of charge and it is difficult to find a space where artists can perform. Now is the time to respond through policy-making. If street art just remains part of festivals without being recognized as a genre or being supported by policies, street art performances for festivals will continue to be produced but the genre itself won''t be able to grow as an art form. What we need is to pave the way for the development of the genre and not just for festivals. If not, Korean street art festivals will be weakened significantly because of lack of content, and the future of the genre won''t be bright, either. It is necessary to overcome the reflex that street arts equals street theatre in order to broaden what we mean by ''street''. An understanding of the space called the ''street'' is also essential for all of these activities.
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A : A festival must be neither static nor standardized. From the perspective that a festival reflects social and historical factors, political and cultural issues as well as the needs of artists and the audience in a certain era, I reflect on today''s meaning of street art. In addition, a festival should be able to deal with today''s values. Although it is important to present performances and enjoy ourselves on the street, what is more important is to tell a story explaining why we enjoy ourselves on that particular street or place. So I want to ask questions by means of a variety of systems. People around me say that I''m crazy about site-specific performances (laughs). We need to ask ourselves, "Why the street?" and "What elements of the space will allow us to tell a story?" Trying to answer these questions will enable us to define the role of today''s festivals. What is a 21st century-style street festival? This is another question I''m asking myself. It is through this question that I''d like to understand the space called Ansan and tell a story of the city.
There is one more thing I try not to forget. That is, my past experience must not make me arrogant and get in the way of trying something new. My experience could tell me if something is right or wrong but it could also put an obstacle in the way of adopting new things. Artistic tenacity as a producer is important but I keep checking if my prejudice is limiting what the audience could enjoy. At the same time, I try to be consistent because I''m tenacious (laughs). When we define the role of artistic director in today''s festival, important factors are the festival mission as well as the director''s personal vision, including likes and dislikes. Based on my experience as s creative producer, I hope my role as artistic director will provide the audience with a carnival feeling, as well as encouraging them to think about what it means to be in this place at this particular time. Whether this will work or not, only time will tell. Anyway, I keep making efforts (laughs).
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