[Power K-Women] "When facing discrimination in life, I didn't grumble but asked questions"

Singer and Director Irang: "I am a Storyteller"
The Secret to an Entertainer's Creativity is Asking Questions... Understanding Myself is the Start
Music as Another Means to Convey One's Story
From Cartoonist to Director, Singer, and Exhibition Curator with Diverse Activities
Discusses Discrimination Experienced as a Woman in Collaborative Performances as a Source of Stories

Editor's NoteAsia Economy selected women active in various fields at home and abroad as 'Power K-Women' and announced them through the ‘2023 Women Leaders Forum’ held on the 24th of last month at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul. These women leaders have broken or transcended boundaries regardless of barriers such as gender, race, disability, and poverty to create new and universal values. Their stories will provide comfort to a weary world, become role models for someone, and give strength for communities to move forward. We introduce those who have fought against discrimination without shrinking or being trapped by boundaries as Power K-Women candidates.

"Reporter, what is that stuck on your laptop?"

Director Irang kept asking questions as if she were conducting the interview herself. "Everyone says they are ordinary people, but when you ask questions, their own stories eventually flow out smoothly."

Known to the public as an indie singer, Irang is also a director, writer, and cartoonist. Although she appears to be a versatile 'entertainer,' looking closely at her works reveals her to be more of an artist who seeks stories. She explained that the source of her talent was the 'power of questioning' she never lost since childhood.

Singer Irang is posing before an interview at a location in Seoul on the 6th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

A Person Who Handles Stories

When asked if she seemed like a 'challenging person,' Director Irang replied, "I have never really thought of myself as crossing genres." Instead, she introduced herself as 'a person who handles stories.' Only the tools and materials for conveying stories change; she does not approach creation with the mindset of changing professions or taking on new challenges. "I don't feel like I have multiple jobs. I accept myself as an artist who thinks about something in life and tries to express it."

Her first profession was a cartoonist. She dropped out of high school and worked for the monthly magazine 'Paper,' publishing cartoons, then entered the Korea National University of Arts’ School of Film. However, making films came with practical challenges. Making films, big or small, required a considerable amount of money. She made short films during college and after graduation participated in producing web dramas such as 'Hungry Woman,' 'Female Employees of a Game Company,' and 'Oh! Basement Goddesses.' "Until my late twenties, I often wondered why no one knew me and what I should do. After continuous effort and time passing, now people know me as someone who does this kind of work, and I receive offers."

Irang and Jungkyu 3rd Album 'A Wolf Has Appeared' Album Cover

Music was another means for Director Irang to convey her stories. Perhaps because of this, her song lyrics evoke the feeling of reading a poem. "I'm not a highly skilled instrumentalist or vocalist; I make songs that tell stories as if reading a diary, so it doesn't feel like crossing genres. But since I like being behind the stage, going out in front of the public was a big challenge for me."

With her first album 'Yon Yonson,' recorded at home, she was nominated for Best Modern Rock at the Korean Music Awards. Then, with the song 'God's Play' from her second album, she won the 2017 Korean Music Awards' Best Folk Song. Her third album 'A Wolf Has Appeared,' released in 2021, earned her the Seoul Music Awards' Discovery of the Year, and in 2022, she received the 19th Korean Music Awards' Best Folk Album and Album of the Year. These were the results of her unique stories reaching the world.

One advantage of being an entertainer is that she can avoid stress. Rather than focusing on one field, moving across various areas to gain inspiration helped her creativity. "After working on films or dramas for a year, I get a bit exhausted. Then singing songs becomes healing again. I like doing only as much as I want to do."

Director Irang has recently been active as an exhibition curator. In May, she exhibited a work at the Mok-in Museum that reinterpreted funeral songs using voices. Until last month, she planned a participatory program called 'Kyoto Experiment' in Kyoto. The exhibition's theme was the experiences of discrimination and violence faced by Korean residents in Japan. "I thought of those living in unfamiliar places as 'aliens who suddenly crash-landed.' Aliens who arrived a little earlier on the strange land called Earth give some tips by saying, 'This is how it was when I lived here.'"

The Driving Force of Questions: Recognizing Discomfort

Singer Irang is posing before an interview at a location in Seoul on the 6th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The foundation that allowed her to become a person with stories was the power of questioning. She explained that the secret was an environment where she could maintain her unique creativity and curiosity. Because she lived creating rather than a standardized life, she had many opportunities to draw out her own stories. "I was born into a society I didn't create, and there were so many things I couldn't understand. Since I had nowhere to ask when I was young, I think I kept questioning myself. I believe the reason I can be called an artist or creative person until now is that I never gave up the habit of questioning."

Another source of creation was the poverty and loneliness she experienced in her environment. "Before I could create, I was just a 'complainer.' Crying or saying I was having a hard time. But as I started to open up one by one, I experienced turning those into songs and stories."

"When I was young, since all the people on the podium were men, I lived thinking that only men could be anything. But I realized I could never become a man, and I felt discrimination." Learning about 'not being able to enjoy what is rightfully yours,' she also became interested in various neighbors around her. Recently, Director Irang attended a baby shower event for lesbian couple Kim Gyu-jin and Kim Se-yeon and sang a song.

Social discrimination she felt as a woman was reborn as story material. The discrimination she experiences in daily life is ongoing. "When I receive requests for interviews or performance collaborations, most of the people contacted are men, and I am often the one who joins. When I say I want to work with female writers or artists, they are very reluctant. It's a subtle area of discrimination that only those involved know."

She constantly asked questions in life. "If you read Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own,' it says that a woman needs a few pounds and a room of her own to become a writer. But it doesn't say how to get those. I made songs and told stories about such dilemmas."

Director Irang said everyone can be a creator. "People seem to be born with an instinct to like stories. Stories have power anyway, and I believe that. Even if you are not a creator, everyone has that kind of 'artisticness.' Asking questions may seem difficult, but just identifying what fills me now, what I like, and what I consume first?that will be the start."

◆About Director Irang…

Director Irang graduated with a bachelor's degree in film directing from the Korea National University of Arts’ School of Film in 2012 and participated in directing web dramas such as 'Hungry Woman,' 'Female Employees of a Game Company,' and 'Oh! Basement Goddesses' in 2013. Her first album 'Yon Yonson,' released in 2012, was nominated for Best Modern Rock at the Korean Music Awards, and with the song 'God's Play' from her second album, she won the 2017 Korean Music Awards' Best Folk Song. Her third album 'A Wolf Has Appeared,' released in 2021, earned her the Seoul Music Awards' Discovery of the Year, and in 2022, she received the 19th Korean Music Awards' Best Folk Album and Album of the Year. This year, she directed the project film 'Instead of Saying I Watched Well,' in which she also participated in the screenplay.