Be-Being | Chin-chan

In the Korean world music scene, all of the active performing arts groups have been putting constant efforts to preserve and develop the traditional musical heritage which had been passed down to them from the past. Formed in 2007, Be-Being is one of groups of this kind, which borrows forms and materials from traditional Korean music, but gathers together more experimental musicians than other Korean music performance groups. Their works are about the formation of sounds,of course, yet their music reveals and embodies a visual imagination. While Korean traditional musicians associate all things with the forms in nature, Be-Being takes a further step by combining visual images of Korean traditional music with dance and video on stage. As a result, space and time are transcended in their work, elevating Korean musical and cultural heritage into a universal concept. In order to realize their productions, the seven members of Be-Being previously had worked actively in various fields. Members of Be-beings have written and performed not only traditional music, but popular music, modern dance and film music as well,and has been receiving recognition over the last ten years for their work. As a result, such diverse experiences and know-how have been infused into their music, the combination of traditional and modern music in an original way, and they realizes this fusion in their own stage works. Their performances on stage provide a good opportunity to directly ascertain the various elements of formation of Korean culture with our own eyes and ears. Through their music you can encounter Buddhist music and arts that are deeply rooted in traditional Korean culture. This kind of traditional Korean music has not only become extinct in our modern age, but continues to develop and be appreciated in the 21st Century. Be-Being has created a precedence by showing the effectiveness of a traditional heritage transposed into the present, in order to fully understand 21st Century Korean world music it is necessary to experience one of Be-Being’s performances.