Current Status and Challenges of Support Projects for Pansori as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

This study provides an overview of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage support projects that have been ongoing since 2014. These projects are undertaken by organizations such as the National Intangible Heritage Center, the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, and the Korean Traditional Performing Arts Foundation. The study examines the characteristics of these projects and discusses their directions and challenges based on the types and characteristics of the selected pansori support projects.The National Intangible Heritage Institute, identified as an "intangible heritage complex" under the Cultural Heritage Administration, organized the Human Intangible Heritage State Subsidy Project from 2017 to 2020. In 2021, the project was transferred to the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation. In the case of Pansori, the only item selected for the project was the "Reproduction of Pansori of Seodo Myungchang Park Wol-jeong" by the Gyeongseodo Sori Forum. Other items were included as parts of joint performances or programs.Since 2021, the Competition for State Subsidized Projects for Human Intangible Cultural Heritage has been renamed the Competition for Private Support Projects for Human Intangible Cultural Heritage and Competition for Support Projects for Human Intangible Cultural Heritage. This change was prompted by the transition of the operating entity to the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation. As a public institution under the Cultural Heritage Administration, and a specialized organization for the transmission, dissemination, and utilization of cultural heritage, the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation has made significant changes in content and direction by expanding its support areas to include: 1. performances/exhibitions/experiences; 2. festivals/ceremonies; 3. continuing education; 4. research projects/book publishing/conferences; 5. promotional content such as ICT and videos, and 6. Product design and production, and by revising the scoring system. In this competition, Pansori projects have been consistently received support, with organizations like the Gyeongseodo Sori Forum, (Art Platform) Donghwa, Korean Pansori Preservation Society, and Dongri Culture Business Association being selected twice in the past three years. The topics included Kim Cho-hyang, the 100-year-old Pansori ‘Chunhyangga’, Pansori Gala Shows, the Pansori Yupa Grand Festival, Korea Pansori Hanmadang, and Dong-ri Shin Jae-hyo.The Korean Traditional Performing Arts Foundation is licensed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to function as a base for revitalizing the private sector of traditional performing arts, and its officially verifiable UNESCO ICH projects include the Tourism Resource Utilization Project for World Intangible Cultural Heritage, which ran from 2014 to 2018, and the Performance Project for Intangible Cultural Heritage, an ongoing initiative since 2019. The new project names signify a shift in focus towards revitalizing performance content and promoting exceptional performance content based on registered items. A significant portion of the projects in the selection have utilized pansori items or offered pansori events. Examples include “Pansori Yupa Daeje Festival,” “Gurye Dongpyeonje Sori Festival,” “Seopyeonje Bosung Sori Festival,” the creative Korean traditional music drama “Chunhyang Nanbongga,” “Pansori Fairy Tale Andersen,” “Wanchang Pansori Project 2 Gangsanje Sugungga,” “Heungboga Behind Story,” and “Baroque Pansori Simcheong.” As at least 35 projects or contents involving pansori as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage have been selected and announced for support projects organized by these three organizations, the contribution of these support projects needs to be clearly recognized. However, as the types of pansori-related support projects selected thus far have largely been limited to performances and festivals, it is suggested that a meaningful strategic move would involve linking these projects to the revitalization of transmission communities or educational efforts.