'Cheongpodo' 'Jeoljeong' Yi Yuk-sa 118th Birth Anniversary Cultural Festival Held

18th, 4 PM: 118th Anniversary Cultural Festival Celebrating Yi Yuk-sa's Birth... Cultural Space Yi Yuk-sa in Jongam-dong, Where Yi Yuk-sa Created Representative Works Like "Cheongpodo" and "Jeoljeong," and Yi Yuk-sa Art Park Host Event Honoring Yi Yuk-sa's Patriotism and Respect for Descendants, Featuring Daughter Lee Ok-bi's Handprinting and Ensemble5471's Creative Gugak Performance Singing Yi Yuk-sa's Poems Including "Flower"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongbuk-gu and Seongbuk Cultural Center will hold the 118th anniversary cultural festival commemorating the birth of Yi Yuk-sa, titled “Waiting for the Swallow Flock to Fly Blackly,” at 4 p.m. on the 18th.

The event will take place at ‘Cultural Space Yi Yuk-sa’ and ‘Yi Yuk-sa Art Park’ in Jongam-dong, which serve as spaces to commemorate Yi Yuk-sa and enjoy with residents, allowing a more meaningful experience of Yi Yuk-sa’s life and works.

“Waiting for the Swallow Flock to Fly Blackly” is a line from Yi Yuk-sa’s poem “Flower.” It contains the hope and will for a new world that must never be given up despite difficult circumstances. It is also a poem that perfectly suits us today, who must overcome the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic and move toward a new world.

Yi Yuk-sa (李陸史, real name Won Rok, 1904. 5. 18 ~ 1944. 1. 16) was a representative nationalist poet during the Japanese colonial period and an independence activist who actively fought against Japanese rule by traveling between China and Korea to regain the homeland. He was born in Andong, Gyeongbuk in 1904 and lived in Jongam-dong, Seongbuk-gu for three years from 1939, during which he published representative works such as “Green Grapes” and “Climax.”

To commemorate this, Seongbuk-gu has been holding the Yi Yuk-sa poet birth anniversary cultural festival annually since 2015 in cooperation with the Seongbuk Cultural Center. In December 2019, they established Cultural Space Yi Yuk-sa at 36-1, Jongam-ro 21ga-gil, Seongbuk-gu.

At this cultural festival, first, to inherit Yi Yuk-sa’s spirit of patriotism and respect for descendants, a handprinting event of Yi Yuk-sa’s daughter, Mrs. Lee Ok-bi, will be held. This will be produced as a plaster relief and displayed at Cultural Space Yi Yuk-sa.

A variety of performances are also prepared. First, the creative gugak (traditional Korean music) performance group Ensemble 5471, which sets Yi Yuk-sa’s poems to songs, will perform songs such as “Flower,” “Self-Portrait,” and “Beautiful Country.” Three children from the Seongbuk area who won awards at the 2021 Yi Yuk-sa Poetry Recitation Contest will also perform a “Yi Yuk-sa Poetry Reading.” Lastly, the band Vintage Franky, which sings history and poetry, will passionately perform songs composed by setting Yi Yuk-sa’s poems to music, including “Boy” and “Green Grapes.”

Seongbuk-gu expects to heal the hearts of citizens who have struggled due to COVID-19 by sharing Yi Yuk-sa’s poems and songs together at ‘Yi Yuk-sa Art Park,’ an outdoor space created by residents of Jongam-dong.

For more details about the 118th anniversary cultural festival commemorating Yi Yuk-sa’s birth, “Waiting for the Swallow Flock to Fly Blackly,” please contact the Seongbuk Cultural Center by phone.