On December 19, the Music Team of the Contemporary Korean Studies Research Group held a colloquium featuring two presentations that examined the contemporary (re)invention of traditional performance and the formation and development of gugak fandom.

In the first presentation, Professor Heesun Kim (Kookmin University) focused on the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, examining how traditional performances were newly constructed and reinterpreted within the context of global mega-events. The presentation analyzed the symbolic role of gugak in national events and discussed changes in performance formats and repertoires at the intersection of tradition and modernity, as well as national and global perspectives.

In the second presentation, Professor Anna Yates-Lu (Seoul National University) explored the history and development of gugak fandom, focusing on yeoseong gukgeuk and changgeuk. From the perspective of participatory culture, the presentation traced forms of active audience engagement from historical practices in women’s gukgeuk to contemporary gugak fandom in the digital age, demonstrating how modes of gugak reception extend beyond passive listening to social relationships and cultural practices.

This colloquium provided an opportunity to view traditional performance not as a fixed heritage, but as a field continuously reshaped and reinterpreted within changing social and historical contexts.