Pungmul

It was originally played as part of farm work, on rural holidays, at other village community-building events, and to accompany shamanistic rituals, mask dance dramas, and other types of performance.

[1] Older scholars often describe this tradition as nongak (Korean: 농악; Hanja: 農樂Korean: [noŋak]), a term meaning "farmers' music" whose usage arose during the colonial era (1910–1945).

Opposition from performers and scholars toward its usage grew in the 1980s because colonial authorities attempted to limit the activity to farmers in order to suppress its use and meaning among the colonized.

Pungmul was added to the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list as "Joseonjok Nongak" by China in 2009 and South Korea in November 2014.

[2] Pungmul was first recognized as an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1966 under the title nongak sipicha (농악십이차, "twelve movements of farmers' music").

[7] Many scholars and performers today claim that the term nongak (농악; 農樂) was introduced during the Japanese colonization era in order to suppress its broad use and meaning among the Korean population.

[9] In 1977, prominent architect Kim Swoo Geun designed the Konggansarang (공간사랑), a performance hall for traditional Korean music and dance located in the capital, and invited artists and scholars to organize its events.

Unlike traditional pungmul, this performance was conducted in a seated position facing the audience and demonstrated a variety of rhythms with great flexibility.

[11] Samul nori eventually came to denote an entire genre as training institutes and ensembles were established throughout South Korea and Japan.

In some regional pungmul types, japsaek (actors) dressed as caricatures of traditional village roles wander around to engage spectators, blurring the boundary between performers and audience.

Most minyo are set to drum beats in one of a few jangdan (rhythmic patterns) that are common to pungmul, sanjo, p'ansori (RR-pansori), and other traditional Korean musical genres.

In an advanced troupe all performers may wear sangmo, which are hats with long ribbon attached to them that players can spin and flip in intricate patterns powered by knee bends.

Pungmul also has been performed by the numerous Korean American communities in the United States, including Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Baltimore.

Groups have been founded by and for Korean adoptees and activists as well as seniors, kids, Catholic Church members, and people in their mid-thirties and forties, to name just a few.