Artist Jaha Koo has built a performing-arts career examining the effects of imperialism on his native South Korea. In a Zoom interview with Pancouver, the Belgium-based theatre maker and composer recalls a profound moment of cultural dissonance in 2008. It inspired his multimedia show, The History of Korean Western Theatre, which Koo will perform January 23 and 24 as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver.
Back in 2008, Koo was studying theatre at Korea National University of Arts when the government decided to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Korean theatre.
“They established their own starting point in 1908,” Koo says. “That’s when they started to count. But actually, it was about western theatre interpreted by Japanese imperialism.”
Koo was sitting in the audience listening to officials grandly pronounce the centenary. Yet he knew that the Korean Peninsula’s history of interdisciplinary performing arts—including theatre, dance, and song—dated back thousands of years. It long predated the Confucian era, which began in 1392.
“I thought this was really strange,” Koo says.
But because the government did not appreciate these traditional artforms, officials decided that the anniversary should coincide with Japan’s introduction of text-driven western theatre. After the Second World War ended with Japan’s defeat, the U.S. occupiers continued promoting western theatre in South Korea. According to Koo, U.S.-backed South Korean military regimes maintained this approach.
“It was kind of forced modernization,” Koo states.
According to him, it is difficult to separate the 20th-century history of Korean theatre from what was happening politically and militarily.
Koo accompanied by non-human performer
But first, some history. Japan rapidly modernized in the mid to late 19th century to fend off western imperialism. (For more on how Japan embraced western ways through modernization while retaining its cultural traditions, read Jared Diamond’s 2019 book, Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis.)
Meanwhile, westerners were referring to the deeply isolationist Korea as the “Hermit Kingdom”. It would only maintain relations with China and Japan.
Western imperialist powers tried without success to begin trading with Korea. However, the Korean kingdom resisted after seeing China’s humiliation following the Opium Wars. Then in 1875, Japan dispatched a warship to impose its influence on the Korean Peninsula, leading to an unequal 1876 treaty. It gave Japan special rights to unhindered trade and insulated Japanese citizens from Korean justice.
Japan’s regional influence grew after it won the first Sino-Japanese War in 1895 and the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. From there, Japan took over the Korean Peninsula, forcing the Japanese language, Japanese names, and Japanese cultural practices on the country. As part of its modernization efforts, Japan had already embraced western theatre, western classical music, and western watercolour painting.
According to the PuSh festival website, Koo’s show “examines how the suppression of local culture under Western assimilation has shaped Korean theatre—and by extension the national identity of South Korea”.
“It is a solo show, but in my artistic practice, there are always small things from a non-human performer… It is an origami robot,” he reveals.
Koo recalls that his university theatre curriculum was primarily based on European or modern American text-based theatre.
“We studied very little about Korean folk theatre or traditional theatre as students who majored in theatre study,” he states.
He adds that if you were to ask South Koreans to explain theatre, most would mention Shakespeare or some other text-based format rooted in western culture. They wouldn’t speak about traditional artforms predating Japan’s seizure of the Korean Peninsula.
Watch the trailer for The History of Korean Western Theatre.
Koo performed at previous PuSh fest
“Because of the Second World War, American influence started to spread in South Korean society,” Koo emphasizes. “Definitely, the American influence was the most important thing. It is kind of like cultural colonialism.”
Moreover, he points out that the United States did not allow South Koreans to establish their own government for many years. The country was under military dictatorship as late as 1989.
The History of Korean Western Theatre is the third and final installment of Koo’s Hamartia Trilogy (hamartia means “tragic error” in Greek). All three pieces, which he conceived of in 2014, examine the effects of imperialism on different aspects of South Korean society.
In 2022, the PuSh festival presented Koo’s Lolling and Rolling, which focused on English language imperialism in South Korea. The other installment in the trilogy, Cuckoo, addresses isolation arising from a severe economic contraction. It will be performed in New York from January 16 to 18.
The trilogy examines the past whereas his next work, Haribo Kimchi, is more future-oriented. It focuses on how an evolving South Korean mindset has led to the country’s rise as a cultural imperial power.
He describes The History of Korean Western Theatre as his most provocative work in South Korea because it deeply divided audiences. Some praised Koo for revealing what was lost culturally through forced modernization. However, others didn’t appreciate him citing examples governments encouraging the suppression of Korean culture.
“Last year after [a performance of] The History of Korean Western Theatre, someone told me, ‘We never gave you the right to talk about the history of Korean theatre outside of Korean society,’ ” Koo says. “It’s crazy.”
Koo creates work with CAMPO, a Ghent-based arts centre. When he returns to Korea, he feels like people view him as an international person with a Korean background. Conversely, when Koo is in Belgium, he senses that Europeans look upon him as distinctly Korean. This dichotomy leaves him pondering his own identity.
“Am I still Korean?” Koo asks. “That is my question these days.”
Event details
The Push International Performing Arts Festival will present two performances of Jaha Koo/CAMPO’s The History of Korean Western Theatre. They will take place at 7:30 p.m. on January 23 and 24 at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre in Vancouver. For tickets and more information, visit the PuSh festival website.
Learn more about the communities that make up Canada on the Toronto Spark website. Follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social.
